₦airaland Forum

The Federal Government did not calculate the cost implication of the agreement it signed with the Academic Staff Union of Universities in 2009, Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, has said.
Maku, who spoke at a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday, also alleged that ASUU too was unaware of the cost implication before the representatives of both parties signed the agreement.
He also disclosed that the government had offered additional N10bn for the payment of the allowances of the striking teachers which they turned down.
Maku added that the Federal Government spent more than half of its monthly income on salaries of public servants.
The minister said, “One of the things that have tormented all of us is the ASUU strike that has lasted for over three months. The strike arose out of a disagreement on the payment of allowances to our university teachers.
“There was an agreement in 2009 or so and sitting allowance was listed under the agreement. As at the time they were listed, neither the government nor ASUU was aware of the exact figures it was going to take to pay those allowances because the allowances were not calculated.
“In the course of this period, the allowances were calculated and the gross began to emerge. ASUU made a demand for the payment and government did not say no. The agreement was supposed to be implemented by the various university governing councils. They were also supposed to come largely from Internally Generated Revenue.”
Maku said in spite of these, when ASUU threatened to go on strike, government entered into negotiation with the lecturers in order to avert the action.
He said, “We also received a report on infrastructure requirement in the universities. President Goodluck Jonathan promised to deal with both problems as our finances would permit. We agreed there was the need to intervene seriously in the universities.
“What happened under this period is that government then went into negotiation with ASUU, put N30bn on the ground to enable the university councils to pay the allowances to the teachers and promised to pay the rest as time goes on. ASUU said no. They needed about N90bn at the same time.
“We negotiated with them until negotiation broke down. In spite of the breakdown of negotiation, the Federal Government convened a meeting chaired by the Vice President of the country in our continued determination to end the strike. Government again promised another N10bn for the payment of the allowances. That brings it to N40bn for the payment of the allowances.”
Maku urged parents and Nigerians to appeal to the striking teachers to call off the strike. He also called on the lecturers to put away politics from the struggle and consider the impact of the long industrial action on the development of their students.
Meanwhile, the Vice-Chancellor, University of Ilorin, Prof. AbdulGaniyu Ambali, has called on the Federal Government and the lecturers to resolve their differences amicably.
Speaking during the 29th convocation of the university in Ilorin on Tuesday, he said both parties should consider the interest of the students and use dialogue to resolve the contentious areas.
Also, President, Civil Rights Congress of Nigeria, Mr. Shehu Sani, on Tuesday, condemned critics of the current strike by university teachers, describing them as ‘lackeys in government’.
Sani, in statement in Abuja, noted that the ASUU strike was “a patriotic act of resistance against bad and visionless leadership in the country.”
He said the strike was also “a genuine struggle to save the education sector from total collapse.”

ASUU protests hit Ile-Ife, Calabar, Osogbo, Ibadan.
From seminar halls and boardrooms where talks seem to have collapsed, university teachers have moved their battle for better education to the streets.
But, the police are stopping them from holding rallies and marches to convince the public that their four-month old action is right.
In Calabar, the police yesterday stopped a planned protest by lecturers of the University of Calabar (UNICAL) and the Cross River University.
But the lecturers addressed a rally on the UNICAL campus.
University of Ibadan (UI) lecturers had a town hall meeting to sensitise the people to the strike.
In Ile-Ife, Osun State, Obafemi Awolowo University lecturers marched on the streets, getting to the palace of the Ooni of Ife. They urged him to pravail on the government to implement the 2009 agreement it signed with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), without which the strike would continue.
President Goodluck Jonathan said during last month’s Presidential Chat that the government cannot fully implement the agreement, especially the financial aspect, because doing so would force a shutdown of other departments.
The Nigeria Labour Congrees (NLC), also yesterday, said although it would not call out workers on a solidarity strike with the lecturers, it would hold a meeting in Kaduna tomorrow to take a stand on the way forward.
No fewer than 200 policemen, most of them heavily armed, stopped ASUU members from carrying out an enlightenment walk in Calabar.
The walk, which was organised by the UNICAL and Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH) branches of ASUU, was to take off from the UNICAL gate at 7am and go through some streets of Calabar, but the policemen ensured the teachers did not leave the campus
The policemen said they were acting on “orders from above”.
ASUU Chairman Dr James Okpiliya said: “Our union is law abiding. We wrote to the police and other security agencies on our intention of walking the streets in pursuance of our cause to put the records straight.
“Many groups have been walking the streets, giving people the wrong impression about the situation. We just want to put the records straight. The police are telling us that they have orders from above not to let us walk the streets of Calabar. It is a shame. You can all see the hypocrisy of government.
“They allowed youth and market women but they would not let us academics, peace loving people. We would remain resolute. No amount of provocation would stop us.”
Okpiliya went on: “We are not on strike because of our salaries. We are fighting for our students and the terrible conditions of our university. Most of our science students do not know the difference between Bunsen burner and a stove. They don’t even know the chemicals.
“The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) today has become a main funding source of our universities, but this is not to be so. TETFUND is only an intervention agency. Government has bailed out banks and even Nollywood, but not our universities.
“The strike would continue as long as the government remains adamant. The President said after all, the strike in Ghana lasted two years, so that means this one can continue even up to five years.
“It is a shame for the President to say the strike is political. The strike is not political. We are fighting for the good of our people. If there is anything political about this it is by him Jonathan. Let him implement the agreement and if the strike continues then he can say it is political. Any government that does not pay attention to the education sector is a dead government.”
The Chairman of ASUU, CRUTECH branch, Dr Nsing Ogar, said the Federal Government must honour the agreement.
A former president of ASUU and renowned author, Prof Festus Iyayi, said a government that does not respect agreements is calling for anarchy.
He said: “This is the final struggle. Even if it takes 10 years, the students should know we are struggling on their behalf. A day would come when the police would join us. A day would come when we would not care whether the police would stop or not. The state has failed.”
Another lecturer from UNICAL said: “If the strike is called off today, everybody will be worse off for it. People are not looking at the issues; they are just saying open the school, let the children graduate. Let them go to school. They are not bothered about the quality of education they are getting. In the future, whatever we say the government will never take us seriously.”
OAU chapter Chairman Prof. Peter Akinola, who led the protest, urged the Federal Government to accede to ASUU’s demands to enable the union suspend the industrial action.
Addressing residents at the palace of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, Akinola said the education sector deserved a better deal.
A member of the union, Prof. Gbolahan Babalola, said protest was to show the concern of ASUU for undergraduates who had stayed at home for months.
He urged traditional rulers and other stakeholders to resolve the impasse.
The Sarun Oodua, Chief Adekola Adeyeye, who represented the Ooni, praised ASUU for the peaceful conduct and show of concern for students.
Adeyeye said that the Ooni understood that education was the best legacy that any parent or government could bequeath to any child.
He promised that the union’s message would be relayed to the traditional ruler.
The OAU lecturers moved round major streets of Ile-Ife. Osun State University teachers staged their rally at the newly built Freedom Square near Old Garage in Osogbo, the Osun State capital.
The Ile-Ife rally, which kicked off from the Oduduwa Hall of the OAU caused a traffic gridlock for many hours in the ancient town.
Osun State University branch Chairman Dr. Joseph Abiona was worried over the misinformation being dished out to Nigerians by the Federal Government as reason for the strike.
The NLC said it was in the process of mediating between the Federal Government and ASUU.
Oyo State NLC Chairman Comrade Bashiru Olarewaju spoke at a town hall meeting organised by ASUU to review the strike. The meeting was held at the Trenchard Hall of the University of Ibadan (UI).
At the Town Hall meeting were hundreds of people, including civil society groups’ members, politicians, the clergy, traders who were presented with slide of the NEEDS ASSESSMENT REPORT of 2009 .
The NLC, according to Olarewaju , will meet tomorrow in Kaduna to take a decisive action on the ASUU strike.
He said: “The government and some other people have been trying to undermine the power, the influence and the ability of each group that can salvage this nation from collapse . And let me say this, that NLC has not been quiet. No, many people will want the NLC to go on strike. No; we will not go on strike on ASUU for now. But, anything can happen after Wednesday. This is because we have more than 40 affiliates. If an affiliate of NLC is in crisis and we now bring the entire workforce to join the strike, the train of the nation will not move forward. What we do in most cases is to mediate. ASUU is an affiliate of the NLC. ASUU is our partner. We will work together ,” the NLC chair said.
Prof. Remi Raji, Dean, Faculty of Arts, UI, said: “The way forward is for the government to look at the NEEDS ASSESSMENT report, which was presented to the government in November, 2012.
“In the next few days, it will be one year and nothing has been done of the 189 recommendations and we are saying that it is very crucial for government to deal with it squarely for the future of our children and our nation because a country that does not develop its own capacity within, to develop its own education standard to world class quality, cannot claim to be a giant of Africa, cannot claim to have a clean bill of economic health . This is the issue.”
UI chapter Chairman Dr. Olusegun Ajiboye said the appeal by President Jonathan to be patriotic is not needed but action and implementation of the agreement reached with the union.
He said it was sad that a President who claimed that corruption is not Nigeria’s problem can watch a Minister buy bullet proof vehicles for N255million, yet claiming there is no money to fund education.
He berated the President for speaking out publicly on the ongoing strike close to four months after it began, maintaining that he has not been patriotic and sensitive enough to the needs of the majority of Nigerians.
He said: “Will it have been possible for Mr. President to be quiet if his children are in one of our public institutions and be at home for four months? “How many years of appeal will make Mr. President implement a four year old agreement? The truth is we are tired of appeal. We need action. “
The Chairman of ASUU, Niger Delta University (NDU), Wilberforce Island, Bayelsa State, Dr. Beke Sese, said the strike is to save the universities from collapse.
He maintained that the strike had no political undertone and not targeted at Jonathan or his administration.
Sese told reporters in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, that the industrial action was to protest the deplorable condition of public universities.
“Imputing political motive to the strike is a calculated attempt by some persons to deploy propaganda gimmicks to the cause of the university teachers, in order to divert attention from the real issues that informed the strike,” Sese said, adding:
“When the current Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, was ASUU president, the members did not compromise, when there was similar strike, during the regime of the late Gen. Sani Abacha.
“This is the first time that ASUU members have embarked on a protracted strike, which centres on funding of the universities and improvement of the infrastructure. The funds so far released by the Federal Government are grossly inadequate. The 2009 agreement must be fully implemented.”
source: http://myschool.com.ng/school/news/22815/the-present-strike-may-last-up-to-5-years-if-fg-remains-adamant-ASUU.html

AS Nigerians, we are all acutely aware of what is wrong with
Nigeria, especially since we are all part and parcel of the
Nigerian affliction.
It is quite amazing that when you visit that uncle who stole
government funds to build his mansion at Banana Island, he
sits you down to talk about the problem of corruption in
Nigeria. When this happens, you find it difficult to resist
saying: “But, uncle, you are also a thief! I know you stole the
money to build this house when you were the Commissioner
for Youths, Sports and Culture.”
Where two or three Nigerians are gathered, you can be sure
we are busy running down our country. What we don’t do
enough is talk about some of the things that are right with
Nigeria. Let’s face it; there are quite a few of these as well,
even if they are often quite enigmatic.
The genius of Nigeria: One of the things right with Nigeria is
Nigeria. It does not matter how the country came about. It
does not matter if Nigeria is an accident of history. It does not
matter that Nigeria is several countries haphazardly lumped
together into one.
Irrespective of the ifs and the buts, the fact remains that
Nigeria is a pure genius of a country. The very existence of a
country called Nigeria is a masterstroke of providence.
As a graduating doctoral student at Oxford University,
England, I was interviewed for jobs I did not apply for.
Multinational organizations, including the World Bank and
Bank of America, came on campus to interview us for jobs.
In the case of the World Bank, I was even flown to Paris.
There was always a sticking-point in the interviews I agreed
to attend: my insistence on returning to Nigeria after having
spent thirteen years abroad.
What precisely is the attraction of Nigeria? Why is Nigeria
such a difficult country to live in and yet, once we are out of
the country, we cannot wait to get back? One of these days, I
may be able to answer that. One thing I can say right now is
that, without Nigeria, the world would be a much poorer
place.
Black man’s Prometheus: The first casualty of a world
without Nigeria would be the black race. Never mind the fact
that Nigeria remains one big mess, and has been for the
longest time. This is perhaps inevitable, as we work out the
curious alchemy of this peculiar nation of over 250
nationalities. The fact remains that the black man would be
absolutely insignificant in the world without Nigeria and
Nigerians. With a population of over 160 million and
growing, Nigeria is difficult to miss on the map.
As the most populous black nation, soon to be the third most
populous in the world, Nigeria and Nigerians cannot be
ignored. Nobody wonders why Barack Obama, the President
of the United States, did not visit Burkina Faso on two
different trips to Africa. But every student of international
relations wonders why he did not visit Nigeria. If Obama
visits Nigeria, he makes a statement. If he does not visit
Nigeria, he makes a statement. The reason is simple: Nigeria,
by its very essence, is a major actor on the world stage.
The country, and its people, command attention and demand
attention. If a Nigerian is somewhere, you will know. You
will hear his voice because he will be loud and outspoken. It
is not easy to pretend not to see the elephant in the room, and
Nigeria is the only elephant in black Africa. However, the
onus is on us to ensure that this elephant does not die of
elephantiasis.
Nigerian politicians: Don’t let me get carried away. Nigeria
is important because it exists. Nigeria is a brilliant
masterstroke, even if created by colonial happenstance. But
one other thing that is fantastic about Nigeria, but that
Nigerians themselves fail to realise, is that coupled with the
enormous resource endowments and potentials of the country,
Nigeria has some of the best politicians in the world. Yes,
yes, yes; Nigerian politicians are thieves. They are crooks.
They have stolen the country blind. They are leading the
country into the ditch. Yes indeed! Nevertheless, they are
excellent at what they do best. Nigerian politicians are
devilishly excellent politicians. This country cannot do
without them.
Precisely because Nigerian politicians are crooks, they have a
vested interest in Nigeria. That vested interest is in the
continued existence of Nigeria. If Nigeria ceases to exist, the
politician crooks of Nigeria will not have Nigeria to steal
from. Since there is oil in Nigeria, nobody will secede from
Nigeria. To secede from Nigeria is to secede from Nigeria’s
oil. Neither can anyone be allowed to secede from Nigeria
with Nigeria’s oil. When that happened, even thieves and
robbers fought that Nigeria must be one. Make no mistake
about it: we were not fighting because we believed in Nigeria.
We were fighting because we believe in Nigeria’s resources.
We believe in Nigeria’s wealth. I have yet to meet a Nigerian
who does not truly believe that Nigeria is a country with huge
potentials.
Accordingly, our politicians form and join different political
parties, but it is all one big lie. All Nigerian politicians belong
to one single party: Politicians Party of Nigeria (PPN).
Northern nationalism: The Nigerian military, on the other
hand, is reckless. It was under the military that the East
seceded as Biafra. It would not have happened under civilian
politicians. The patchwork quilt that is Nigeria would have
been mended and amended.
Debating and horse trading
There would have been a lot of debating and horse-trading.
Odumegwu Ojukwu might have been elected President of
Nigeria by a landslide. He might even have been the sole
presidential candidate. The Igbo would have been mollified
for the wrongs done to them; and Nigeria would have
remained one.
If you don’t believe me, think back to what happened when
the troublesome military annulled the free and fair election of
1993. The matter was resolved by a political masterstroke of
the Nigerian political class. The decision was taken that a
Yoruba man should become the president of Nigeria. In that
process, the much-vilified North emerged as Nigeria’s greatest
nationalists. It was Northerners, after all, who voted
overwhelmingly for a Southerner, M.K.O. Abiola, in 1993;
instead of their own Northern favourite-son, Bashir Tofa. It
was also Northerners who fished out a Southerner, Olusegun
Obasanjo, from prison and then secured his election as
president in 1999.
So what am I saying here? There is more to Nigeria than
meets the eye. There is an invisible hand guiding the affairs of
this nation, and our politicians are its instrument. Yes, we are
going through fits and starts. We are seemingly floundering
from one problem to the next. Nevertheless, there is a method
to the madness that is Nigeria. When you stand back and take
a deep hard look, you cannot escape the fact that, in spite of
all our palaver, we are nevertheless on the trajectory of
becoming a nation.
Nigerian “goodluck”: We have been fighting against a
determinate providence out to create a united states of black
excellence out of Nigeria. That invisible hand put Hausas,
Ibos, Yorubas, and a host of other unlikely ethnic bedfellows,
in the same Nigerian melting-pot. So doing, it gave us
Maitama Sule, one of the greatest orators of his generation. It
gave us Aliko Dangote, the most enterprising businessman in
Africa. It gave us Chike Obi, one of the greatest
mathematicians the world has ever seen. It gave us Wole
Soyinka, Nigeria’s Nobel laureate in Literature. It gave us a
country with by far the most enterprising people on the entire
continent of Africa.
That invisible hand also gave is Goodluck Jonathan. The
message is written in his name. I am convinced Goodluck
Jonathan never imagined, growing up, that he would one day
be the president of Nigeria. I doubt if he ever thought he
would even be the governor of BayelsaState. As a doctoral
student, he probably aspired to become a university professor
or even a university vice-chancellor. However, “Goodluck”
propelled Goodluck Jonathan to be Nigeria’s president
literally overnight.
What are we to make of this? A decision was taken
somewhere and somehow that a South-South man needed to
become President of Nigeria at a precise moment of our
history. For some absolutely ridiculous reasons, a terminally-
sick man was “installed” as president. He promptly died in
office. That unfortunate comeuppance was Nigeria’s
“goodluck.” There is something incongruous about having the
whole country benefit from South-South oil, without thinking
it imperative to have a South-South president at some
juncture. Therefore, the time for Nigerian inclusiveness of the
South-South was decreed. Out of the blue, a South-South
man, by the name of Goodluck Jonathan, became president of
Nigeria. We must not lose the message of this inclusiveness.
If pioneering Barack Obama was re-elected as president of the
United States in 2012, pioneering Goodluck Jonathan should
be re-elected as president of Nigeria in 2015.
Misguided militancy
This has nothing to do with the nonsense of some South-South
militants who declare that if Jonathan does not remain
president until 2019, Nigeria will cease to exist. That kind of
bombast and blackmail should be ignored. Nigeria is not
going anywhere. But in the interest of Nigeria, the South-
South should retain the presidency until 2019. Even the APC
should also consider fielding a South-South man as their
presidential candidate in 2015. Nigeria belongs to all
Nigerians. Therefore, our acceptance of a South-South
president should not be grudging. As a matter of fact,
Jonathan’s South-South presidency is well-positioned to
advance the Nigeria project significantly.
Jonathan’s biggest legacies are already unfolding. He is the
first South-South president. Under him, giant strides are being
taken in Nigerian agriculture yet again. The perennial
problems of power shortage are beginning to be addressed
with appreciable results. Under Goodluck Jonathan, Nigerians
will finally get the opportunity to determine their future, under
the aegis of a Sovereign National Conference.

mysticgal: this thread well for head so

no

[quote author=I_am_Sylva]she meant BFF-BEST FRIEND FOREVER



I doubt that she means it tho[/quote]y u dey doubt,e dey pain u?

Adex I don dedicate ma fp to una o

I can't believe dis,is dis d front page. GOD is Great.
I dedicate dis to my mummy,daddy,brother,uniben,n F.G.mhelena affrey,faith,adex,Riley,kolade,jellyd etc
My name is odiri n ASUU I'm not federal government

odizeey: Hahaha d guy dey beg

odizeey shut up

Striking members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) have accused the Federal Government of using orchestrated propaganda to compel their union to end the current industrial action.
The leadership of the union made the allegation on Sunday in Abuja, where it also reiterated that its indefinite strike started on July 2, still stands, irrespective of the move by government to discredit their union.
ASUU distanced itself from a purported meeting at the State House, Abuja, with Vice President Namadi Sambo, where it was claimed that government further shifted grounds on the demands of the union.
Last week, an online news medium had reported that there was an appreciable progress in the ongoing negotiations between ASUU and the Vice President, particularly on the controversial earned allowances for the striking lecturers.
In the report, government was alleged to have further shifted ground on the demands made by the union, by agreeing to add N10 billion to the N30 billion initially provided for the settlement of earned allowances, making it N40 billion.
It was also reported that government had shored up the N100 billion meant for infrastructure to N150 billion with a pledge to periodically inject more funds into the system in line with the Needs Implementation Committee chaired by Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswan.
Chairman of ASUU, University of Abuja chapter, Clement Chup, however, told our reporter that there was such meeting.
“In fact, I read the mischievous report online myself, but I am telling you authoritatively that there was no such meeting.
“Government is only trying to use propaganda and cheap blackmail to make us call off this strike, but it will not work.
“Our strike is still very much on course, in fact ASUU will soon release a position paper on these developments, we are used to this kind of blackmail from government,” Chup said.
Only recently, government began the implementation of no work, no pay policy against the striking lecturers.
ASUU’s counterpart in the technical education sector, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), also resumed their earlier suspended strike last week.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Ambrose Alli University chapter of ASUU, Fred Esumeh, has said the union still enjoys public sympathy.
He attributed the strike to failed leadership on the part of government, saying over 53 letters urging government to implement the 2009 agreement were transmitted prior to the strike.
“As I keep saying, this strike is a product of failed leadership on the part of government; this is because we had series of dialogue to reach an agreement.
“An agreement reached since 2009 that has not been implemented up till now, obviously it is a product of failed leadership, before this time that we commenced strike, there have been over 53 letters, not to talk of several meetings with House and Senate committees on education to intervene.
“I do not think ASUU is loosing public sympathy, because what we see in our electronic media and perhaps few print media is sponsored protest.
“Like the one organised by the market women, that one is laughable, you could see that it is government sponsored.
“Then of course the guy that parades himself as NANS President, Yinka Gbadebo, a diploma student in OAU, who was rusticated from Ekiti State University.
“A diploma student cannot even contest to be an SUG president and to be a NANS president, you must be from SUG presidents all over the federation, so we know these people are sponsored by government,” Esumeh said.
Also from Ado-Ekiti came report that ASUU is insisting that the no-work-no-pay rule by the Federal Government against its members would not deter it from fighting the ongoing battle to a logical conclusion.
The union said no amount of pressure will dissuade it from ensuring that government implements the agreements.
This was contained in a statement in Ado Ekiti on Sunday by ASUU, Ilorin Zone, and signed by its Coordinator, Ayan Adeleke.
It said owners of private universities, who have allegedly been advising the President to whip ASUU into line through no-work-no-pay rule, are doing it for selfish motives.

Nigeria has 78 public and 51 private universities. A strike
by lecturers has paralysed public institutions for the past
three months, while teaching at private universities has
continued. As a result, there has been a rush by parents
with financial muscle to register their children in private
universities, whose proprietors are laughing all the way to
the bank.
Other factors have contributed to the financial fortunes of
private tertiary institutions. They include weakening of the
local currency, the Naira, against the American dollar,
increasing the costs of studying abroad; visa restrictions on
Nigerian students by Western countries; and instability in the
Middle East, preventing students from studying there in
Islamic universities.
However, students in the applied sciences – especially
medicine, dentistry and engineering – have to wait for public
universities to reopen, because these capital-intensive courses
are not offered in private institutions.
The private sector
While public universities have remained closed at the start of
the academic year, private institutions have opened their doors
and have reported many more students – including refugees
from the public sector.
Parents have gone to the office of the Joint Admissions
Matriculation Board in the federal capital Abuja, to change
the admission status of their children from public to private
universities.
“The current industrial strike in public universities has thrown
up a major contradiction in Nigeria’s political landscape,”
said a leader of the Academic Staff Union of Universities,
who did not want to be named so as not to jeopardise ongoing
pay negotiations.
Most of the children of the Nigerian elite were in private
universities. “Thus they are not bothered if public universities
are shut down. It is clear that the proprietors of these private
universities made up their mind not to allow academic staff to
join unions. What a pity!”
According to reliable sources, the income of parents
determines the choice of private university, as does location
and religious affiliation. Some of the universities are
fashioned after well-known tertiary institutions in Western
Europe and the Middle East.
They are well oiled by private funds, well equipped and their
Nigerian and foreign staff are well salaried thanks to hefty
fees paid by parents who are members of the well-
remunerated political class. The students are primarily
children of top military officers, top civil servants, traditional
rulers, private sector executives and some lecturers from
public universities.
Among these private institutions – to name but a few – are the
American University of Nigeria, founded by former vice-
president, Abubakar Atiku; Bells University of Technology,
Ota in Ogun State, funded by former president Olusegun
Obasanjo; Baze University in Abuja, founded by Senator
Datti Baba-Ahmed; Veritas University, Abuja, founded by the
Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria; Covenant University,
founded by the Living Faith Church; and the Nigerian Turkish
Nile University, which is owned by Turkish and Nigerian
private investors.
Private universities market themselves as assisting students to
create networks of international friends who will be useful to
them in future jobs in a globalised world.
Push factors no more
Most members of the establishment in northern Nigeria are no
longer willing to send their children to study in Western
Europe, because of visa restrictions that have followed the
suspected involvement of some Nigerian students abroad in
terrorism.
Images of violence and destruction in the Middle East –
especially in Egypt, Libya, Syria and Sudan – have also
persuaded Islamic parents to send their children to private
Muslim universities in Nigeria.
Universities in the Middle East were once the preferred
destinations for Nigerian students studying Arabic and Islam.
This is no more the case.
Nigerian embassies in the Middle East have advised
prospective students to stay at home or go to Malaysia to
study. “The political situation in the Middle East is volatile.
We cannot guarantee the safety of our students,” declared a
senior diplomat in the foreign affairs ministry in Abuja, who
did not want to be named.
Ibrahim Mikael, a Muslim cleric in Lagos, said, “Authorities
of the Islamic-based universities [in Nigeria] have approached
Muslim clerics to make use of the Friday prayers, appealing to
parents to send their kids to these universities.”
Some challenges
Most have recorded soaring enrolments of new students. But
they do have challenges.
For example, the American University of Nigeria is in a
region that experiences occasional attacks by Boko Haram,
the Muslim fundamentalist group fighting for the imposition
of sharia law in northern Nigeria.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, with approval from
parliament, has imposed a state of emergency in the areas
where the university is situated – an action criticised by AUN
Vice-chancellor Margie Ensign, who has said Yola is calm
and peaceful.
Adamawa State Governor Murtala Nyako, however, pointed
out recently that the security situation had precipitated the
“massive” departure of foreigners from Yola – an obvious
reference to foreign students and staff of AUN.
Ensign debunked this claim, saying Nyako’s comments were
“completely inaccurate. Not only are we running our regular
summer school with very high attendance, but no faculty
member or staff has left AUN because of the ‘state of
emergency’.
“In fact, over 4,000 people – including the ambassadors of the
United States, the European Union, Rwanda and Ireland –
attended our fifth commencement ceremony on 11 May, three
days before the state of emergency was announced. We are
also continuing our important development work in the
community in literacy, IT and with the Adamawa
Peacemakers Initiative that the University founded in January
2012.”
What about public university students?
While many of rich parents are willing to send their children
to private universities, students who had been admitted to
study medicine, dentistry and pharmacy have mostly decided
to wait until public universities open.
Private universities do not currently have the infrastructure or
manpower to offer these courses.
“I have been given admission to a public university,” said
Agnes Okon, who has been admitted to read medicine. “I will
wait until the strike is over. Government should make more
concessions so that university teachers can go back to the
campuses. I am tired of staying at home.”

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)
National President Dr. Nasir Faege has said the strike will
continue. He said the union was ready to negotiate with
any other body,besides the Benue State Governor Gabriel
Suswam’s committee.
The Suswam committee, he saidhad nothing good to deliver.
Faege said: “The strike continues even if government is
threatening to do the worst. There is no more dialogue with
government, if the 2009 agreement is not approved. But we
are willing to dialogue with anybody towards meeting
ASUU’s said agreement.
That is the truth. “Our doors are open towards addressing
these problems. If anybody invites us, we will be there. The
only dialogue that we will not attend is that with the Suswam
committee. ASUU has vowed not to listen to that committee
again. The struggle is on and we are waiting and hoping that
government will do what is right so that we will go back to
our classes and start lecturing.
“Many students have been calling me in support of the ASUU
strike and they want government to listen to us and that we
should not call off the strike until the 2009 agreement is met.
The condition of the universities is nothing to write home
about.” On the ‘no-work no-pay’ issue, the ASUU boss said:
“The Federal Government has not been paying. That
statement is not applicable now since we have been working
without pay.”

new paparazzi: U sef no dey mix?u wan tell us say u no dey chop bread & beans or groundnut & popcorn. Abeg thats the beauty of life for naija.

naso

[quote author=I_am_Sylva]NP:adele-don't u remember


affrey n odizeey.. What z d latest question[/quote]oya ans dis one,
get wild
he's a cool fm presenter

Faith93: Good evenin to y'all...affrey...odizeey..nd co...i see u guys rockn dis thread..weldone...infct mre oil to u elbow!

faith i dey beef u o

Affrey: nah i first told u that i was not gud in nja music,tomo we will do strictly foreign songs and i have no idea who sang dat song

sdc ft mayd,chai u nor knw gud jamz.
N for america jamz,na 90's jamz i go fire u o

Affrey: i have never heard of this guys b4

na now u just dey hear song na,
oya tk dis one:farabale chop my money.

GorgeousReney: yeah....
R u sure u'll say sorry or jst bone?

hv i pressed ur own n bone

Affrey: fyn i dunno my head is reeling

its beezy ft A1 sugarboy

zobomajesty: gud evening peeps hw r u,dey call me zobo majesty,importer n expoter of correct zobo. I was given zoboology if u whr given d course hala me on zelo eati zelo ..... Late me go ndi chake my phonebook

u dnt mean it

Affrey: easy kanye west
ditrix ur wicked o,ur always giving me hard question

oyoyo is not hard na.

Affrey: correct monsueir*now playing seasons of the sun by westlife*

oya go crack brain now,
who sang fifty naira hundred naira

Affrey: i did not sincerely.
Who sang gidigba

my baby she dey gidigba
so wat ever it tks gidigba
Her body nor dey shake gidigba

My own mitchele obama,
new version of karma
illbliss ft del b

Affrey: i did not sincerely.
Who sang gidigba

my baby she dey gidigba
so wat ever it tks gidigba
Her body nor dey shake gidigba

My own mitchele obama,
new version of karma

[quote author=Sir-Tunechi]she indirectly called us jobless[/quote]leave am,i just dey use gbejero eyes dey look am

Affrey: lol,them holla 2shot oyoyo sum say ekabo oyoyo some say edayeon pls i cant spell this languages.

c ur face wen u don go download am come back.
Oya ask e

Kai nairalanders no good at all,207 views nobody fit sorry for me post chai

GorgeousReney: Guyz, do u realise it wen u mistakenly hit a lady's bust or u don't? Nd if u do, wat do u do afterwrdz? Do u apologise or behave as if nofin happend?

Nd 2d ladies, wat do u do? Do u brng it 2d guy'z notice by screamin ''ouch! U jst hit me!!'' or u jst keep mute 'n' calm?

Share ur experiences........

i'll say sorry,
dem don hit ur bobby bfr?

Affrey: 2shot?

easy one,correct ,ur turn

Wait o,dis myt b a revenge.
oya gv me d lyrics pls