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Education has become a class issue ―NUT
BY KEHINDE
JULY 12, 2017
The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has said that inability of government to provide quality and affordable basic education to her citizenry caused proliferation of private schools which charge exorbitant fee with less service.
Speaking at the sixth quadrennial delegates’ conference of the union in Ilorin on Wednesday, the Kwara State Chairman of the NUT, Musa Abubakar, said that, “education which is a right has today become a class issue.”
Abubakar, who described the current privatisation and commercialisation of schools in the country as undemocratic and anti people, said that it was a deliberate ploy to surcharge the masses.
“After all, those in government today went to public schools. I therefore challenge all our political office holders to lead by example by withdrawing their children from the exorbitant private schools to public schools. This will no doubt strengthen the system of primary education in this country”, he said.
The NUT boss also said that teachers in both primary and junior secondary schools in the state were being owed four months salaries and various degrees of percentages.
“Payment of salary to primary and junior secondary school teachers under the management of Universal Primary Education Board has become a thing of concern to all lovers of education. Immediately after general elections in 2015, primary school teachers either received salary on prorate basis or in percentages.
“This abysmal situation has raised a lot of fundamental issues and hardship to teachers. Despite, the intervention by the Federal Government using bailout and Paris Club refunds, yet the problems still persist.
“Despite several calls the government there is no ray of hope that this problem will be solved, because allocation to local government where primary school teacher’s salary is drawn is overloaded and consistently dwindling.
“I therefore call on the state government to come to our aide by looking for alternative source of augmentation to pay primary school teachers full salary and other entitlements”, he said.
On local government autonomy, the number one teacher in the state said, “our concern is not the issue of autonomy but as critical stakeholders the plight of our members and the system itself. In view of this, we wish to propose that allocation from the federation account be reviewed upward in favour of the states to enable them discharge their constitutional responsibilities as contained in the Supreme Court judgement of 2002 between Attorney General of the Federation and Attorney General of Abia State and 35 others.”

The Federal Government has declared Monday, June 26 and Tuesday, June 27 as Public Holiday to mark Eid el Fitr.
Minister of Interior, retired Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau made the annnouncement on behalf of the Federal Government on Thursday in Abuja.
He enjoined all Muslim faithful and Nigerians in general to use the occasion of the celebration for sober reflection and pray for peace, unity and progress of the nation in its march to nationhood.
Dambazau urged all Nigerians to shun hate speeches and divisive tendencies and join hands with the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to build a peaceful, strong and united Nigeria.
He assured of a Nigeria, which guarantees fundamental freedoms, including the right of residence in any part of the country, as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The minister reaffirmed the determination of the Federal Government to protect all lives and property of Nigerians.
He warned hoodlums not to test the will of the administration.
The minister said the government has the capability to deploy security agencies to deal with any individual or group that may threaten the corporate existence of the nation, as well as the peaceful co-existence of the people.
He further assured Nigerians of the government’s resolve to be just and fair to all.
The minister wished Nigerians a peaceful and rewarding celebration.

ABUJA – THE Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) Thursday shared the sum of N462.359 billion among three tiers of government in the month of May.
The amount was N47 billion more than N415 billion shared in the previous month.
The amount shared consisted of N317.562 billion from the statutory Federation Account shared for the month; N64.812 billion from the exchange rate differential; 0.067 billion Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT) Account and N79.985 billion from Value Added Tax (VAT), while the NNPC refund was empty.
Presenting the communiqué at the end of the FAAC monthly meeting in Abuja, the Chairman of FAAC and Minister of Finance, who was represented by the Accountant General of the Federation, Mohammed Usman attributed the increase in the revenue shared for the month to increase in revenues from Companies Income Tax and Oil Royalty. However, he disclosed that the revenue in Customs and exercise duty was marginal.
He further noted that there was a slight drop in the average price of crude oil from $55.38 to $55.18 per barrel and another decrease in export volume by 1.023 million. Barrels, which reduced oil revenue by about $57.12 million.
According to him, Crude oil production suffered due to leakage. Shut-ins and shutdowns at terminals for maintenance and the Force Majeure declared at Forcados Terminal since February, 2016 subsisted.
A breakdown of the allocation showed that Federal Government received a total of N147.682 billion; the states got N74.906 billion, while the Local Governments received the sum of N57.750 billion.
The sum of N20.505 billion was paid to the oil producing states in the Niger Delta as 13 per cent derivation on oil revenue.
From the VAT, the Federal government got N11.518 billion, states received N38.393 billion, while Local Governments received N26.875 billion.
The Minister disclosed that the Excess Crude Account currently stands at $2.303 billion.
Fielding questions from newsmen at the end of the meeting, the minister explained that the NNPC refund was zero because the payment had been completed.
On possibility of paying salaries before Sallah, she promised that government would do everything possible to ensure that workers are paid their June salaries on or before the Sallah break.

NUT endorses govt’s plan to sack uncertified teachers by 2018 David 4 hours ago
The Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) has endorsed the move by the Federal Government to sack those teaching in public schools without professional certificates by 2018.
Its President, Michael Alogba Olukoya, who said this, noted that the professionalism drive of the teachers’ registration council is a right step in the right direction.
He said the plan will make teachers to charge professional fees and correct wrong conception about the profession.
The NUT president spoke while participating at the workshop organised by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) on Training the Trainers on the implementation of professional standards among Nigerian teachers.
Giving kudos to the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration and Minister of EducationMallam Adamu Adamu and the TRCN boss, Prof. Segun Ajiboye on the drive to rid the profession of quacks, Olukoya noted that those not professionally qualified must be shown the way out.
The NUT president noted that allowing quack teachers to teach children would be a great disservice to the future of Nigeria, adding that professionalism is the way to enhance standards.
“It is going to bring about change in the attitudes and change in the previous conception. It is going to improve the quality of education in our country. I must give kudos to the government of Muhammadu Buhari and the minister of education, who have made many pronouncements, that in Nigeria if you are not professionally qualified,you shall be shown the way out.
“There should be a different between men and boys. You cannot give what you don’t have and we are concerned about the standards. In teaching, there should be no room for quacks because quacks in the classroom will damage the children and leave them more confused than they were before.
“It is the responsibility of us in the NUT to ensure that this does not happen. This new development, sincerely, we teachers in Nigeria welcome it and we are going to partner with the TRCN to move the state of teaching profession to state of Eldorado,”he stated.
TRCN Registrar/Chief Executive Prof. Olusegun Ajiboye said the implementation of the policy will begin in 2018, warning those yet to have professional certificate to take the opportunity of writing professional examination in October 2017.
Ajiboye added that it was important to remove “cheaters” from “teachers”.
According to him, those teaching in public and private schools must be registered to be professional teachers.
The TRCN boss added that the Ministry of Education is working hard to ensure that teachers’ welfare are improved within the lifespan of the Buhari administration

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, has assured Nigerian teachers that the National Assembly will increase their retirement age from 60 to 65 years to retain more experienced teachers in public schools.

Dogara disclosed this when he received a delegation from the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) who paid him a courtesy visit on Wednesday in Abuja.

The Speaker said that the House would support an upward review of teachers’ retirement age to benefit Nigerian children.

“We have done it for the Tertiary institutions and the Judiciary, so nothing should stop us from taking the bull by the horns.

“They say that wine gets better with age. It was the same consideration that motivated us to raise that of university lecturers, raised that of judges. So this is something we can pursue.

“Thankfully, it doesn’t require a constitutional amendment, it is something we can achieve by amending the existing law.

“That is the responsibility of the parliament and we assure you that we will do something about that so that the benefit that comes with experience and wisdom will not be lost,” he said

Dogara said that the welfare and working condition of teachers must also be upgraded to enable Nigerian citizens to compete with the global world and produce citizens that can achieve development that the country seeks.

“If we don’t have people who will sacrifice their time and energy to impact knowledge on our children, then like I said, we have lost the future.

“This government which is a government of change must be prepared to change the narrative by ensuring that teachers are motivated and the condition in which they work are conducive at all levels, so that they can deliver on their professional calling,” he said.

The speaker also advised the union to channel their request for salaries of teachers to be handed over to state governments or paid from first-line charge from the federation account through the Universal Basic Education Commission to the Constitution Review of the House of Representatives for consideration.

Comrade Alogba Olukoya, the National President of NUT,said the union preferred that payment of teachers’ salaries be handed over to State governments. He also canvassed for an increase in the retirement age of teachers from 60 to 65 years.

The teachers union also demanded that teachers’ salaries be paid from first-line charge from the federation account through the Universal Basic Education Commission.

“We want the responsibilities of paying the salaries of Teachers be handed over to State Governments in which case the salaries component of the revenue allocation of the Local Governments will have to be transferred to the states and restructure the fiscal allocation of our national resources in favour of the states to guarantee uninterrupted and unfettered primary education in Nigeria.

“We teachers of Nigeria in primary and secondary schools do seek and demand that our retirement  age be raised to 65 years to increase the teacher retention rate in our schools.

“This will help to check the rate at which experienced teachers are being lost in the school system whereas younger and prospective teachers are not recruited to take their places,” Olukoya said.

NUT applauds Buhari’s administration, appeals for payment of outstanding salaries
nigeriatoday.ng May 29, 2017 10:45 AM
The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) on Monday applauded the Buhari led administration for its achievements, especially in the educational sector and appealed for intervention on teachers’ unpaid salary arrears.

The Acting Secretary General of the union, Dr Mike Ike-Ene, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that the applause became necessary considering the relative peace in the country since its inception.

“Although I will not say that we have gotten it correctly, when there is relative peace to an extent, we can now say that there is progress.

“At least one thing this administration has done is being a little proactive to issues concerning education and other areas.

“This government is more open to dialogue, negotiation and discussion and when these things are involved in any issues, parties concerned understand themselves better,” he noted.

Ike-Ene also decried the rate at which some state governments were owing teachers’ salary arrears for months.

According to him, Benue, Bayelsa, Osun and Imo governors, among others, are owing primary school teachers several months of salary arrears.

“As I talk to you now our teachers in Benue primary schools are owed 10 months salary arrears and they are still working; 10 good months people cannot put food on their table.

“ There are cases whereby the father and the mother are teachers, are they going to rob bank before they put food on their table; not only Benue, Bayelsa also owes eight good months.

“In Osun, very many states; in Imo state our teachers are paid in percentages; primary school teachers are owed various sums of money in various states.

Ike-Ene, however, called on the Federal Government to call the governors concerned to order, saying that teachers would stop work at those states that owed.

The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) yesterday said that presentation of certificates and degrees would no longer suffice for teachers’ registration.
The TRCN Director, Professional Operations, Dr Steve Nwokeocha, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that teachers would now write professional qualifying examinations.
“Teachers will no longer get registered by mere presentation of their certificates, but they will have to write professional examination.
“Teachers are to resume professional qualifying examinations, and the models are being developed and finalised,’’ he said.
Nwokeocha said the council was developing a standard syllabus as a professional body and would present it to stakeholders like National Universities Commission, among others, for validation.
According to him, once it is validated, we will set a date for the examination, and from there henceforth, there will be no registration without an examination.
He said that in 2008, a pilot examination was written and over 50,000 candidates wrote the examination in all states of the federation.
The director said this would be the second edition of the examination, adding that the first was experimental and recorded huge success.
He said that the council collaborated with the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in the first edition, stressing that it was written in the same manner that JAMB was written.
Nwokeocha said about 25,000 out of the 50,000 teachers that wrote the examination failed and this was reflective of the quality of training that they were getting.
“We had to suspend the pilot examination because the council did not have a syllabus at that time.
“And people asked that a few more things like a model, among others, should be put in place before the examination will be conducted again,’’ he said.
He said that the council had done its research and had developed a standard model, syllabus among others.
He added that the examination would be written twice yearly and that the council was making efforts to ensure standard and quality in the system.

The Federal Government has said teachers who do not possess Professional Certificate of the Teachers’ Registration Council, TRCN, will be shown the way out by the end of this year. This was disclosed by the Registrar/Chief Executive of the Council, Professor Olusegun Ajiboye in Ibadan yesterday. According to him, the decision is part of the three-year Ministerial Strategic Plan by the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu. This, he added, was aimed at getting rid of unqualified teachers in Nigerian schools. He further hinted that the first professional qualifying examination of TRCN would hold at the end of September, 2017. He advised those who want to use the normal registration to act before the end of May 2017. While hinting that about 1.6m teachers have registered, he said examination was designed in modules comprising category A (PhD holders), B (Master degree holders), C (Bachelor degree holders), and D (NCE holders). Ajiboye said, “By the end of 2017, Nigerian children will be taught by only qualified professional teachers who can deliver the quality education desirous for the elevation of our children and our country.”

So boring and irritating i can't wait for her to leave.

ChyChy17:
Pls when are schools resuming for next term?

Am really amazed at some person who pretend to be teacher, How will real teacher not know school calendar, A class room teacher for that matter, its a shame and unprofessional.

Teachers are great! No controversy! Its important i share my encounter concerning short payment of our salaries. As a matter of fact am a victim of the arbitrary short payment, so this morning i proceed to ube board @ elechi to make a complaint, there i met the account officer and i told him my issue and he directed i should formerly write through his office and attache appointment letters, photocopy of staff id card, account number, computer number and six month of statement of account commencing from July to date. I have done all these and will submit mine tomorrow, pls i advice affected colleagues to do same thanks.

Eid-el-Maulud: FG declares Monday, Dec 12 public holiday
Punch Newspapers / Zovoe Jonathan / 3 hours ago

The Federal Government has declared Monday, Dec 12, as public holiday to mark the Eid-El-Maulud celebration.‎ ‎The Minister of Interior, Retired Lt.- Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau, made the declaration on behalf of the Federal Government on Thursday in Abuja. In a statement signed by the acting Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Alhaji Muhammadu Maccido, Dambazau enjoined all […]

Alert zenith bank for November ube sum of four thousand naira s deducted.

gladvera:
@temple4real

yes! @glad Vera anything the matter?

ABUJA – The Federal Government has declared Wednesday and Thursday public holidays to mark the eid-il-fitr. Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau in a statement issued Tuesday in Abuja said this followed “the directive by the President General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, the Sultan of Sokoto, to the effect that the Ramadan fast continues today (Tuesday) as a result of the non-sighting of the moon”. He said the Federal Government has now declared Wednesday 6th and Thursday 7th July, 2016 as Public Holiday.
The Federal Government had earlier declared Tuesday, 5th and Wednesday, 6th July, 2016 as public holiday to mark the Eid-el Fitri celebrations. The statement was signed by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Bassey Akpanyung.
“In making the declaration on behalf of the Federal Government, the Honourable Minister of Interior, Lt Gen. (Rtd) Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau, urged Nigerians to use this period of sober reflections to ensure harmony, unity and peaceful co-existence, while giving full support to the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in his sustained effort to pursue socio-economic and political growth of the nation.
“The Honourable Minister wishes Nigerians a peaceful celebration”, said Akpanyung.

kebosky:
Thanks, that's so comforting, did they pay any arrears or just a month's salary?

I was paid one month then in two days I received the next one.

kebosky:
Temple4real please did u get your own alert in 2 weeks?

yes I received mine after two weeks of biometrics.

kebosky:
Good morning, please has anyone who has completed the biometrics exercise been paid? If yes, how long did it take before your were paid i.e the duration of when you captured to when you actually get paid. [e.g, 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, etc]

It's two weeks duration that you will get alerts after biometrics.

Alert zenith bank for May salary Obalga, ube, my biometric was done on 23rd may 2016.

The Federal government has declared May 30 a public holiday to celebrate Democracy Day.
NAN reports that the minister of interior, Retired Lt-Gen Abdulrahman Dambazau made the declaration on behalf of the FG on Wednesday in Abuja.
A statement signed by the permanent secretary in the Ministry, Mr Bassey Akpanyung, quoted the minister as wishing Nigerians happy democracy day celebration.
He assured Nigerians that with the signing into law of the 2016 Appropriation Act, the country would witness a “New Deal” with its full implementation.
The minister noted that the 2016 Appropriation Act was laced with social intervention programmes aimed at improving the living conditions of the populace.
Dambazau congratulated Nigerians on the attainment of one year in office of President Muhammadu Buhari and enjoined all to continue to support the President in his sustained effort to build a peaceful, enduring and democratic legacy. (NAN)

Schools, Fake Teachers, Rock Kogi
After painstaking investigations, it has been finally established that there are massive and rampant cases of fake certificates, being paraded by thousands of primary school teachers in Kogi State payroll through SUBEB.
This was part of the stunning revelations contained in a comprehensive report submitted to the immediate past Governor Capt. Idris Wada by the Interim Management Committee that was inaugurated on 12th May, 2014 to oversee the affairs of SUBEB, sequel to copious petitions that SUBEB had become a cesspool of unbridled corruption and poor leadership style of the former chairman of the board. The report also revealed that there are no fewer than 900 fake Schools and hundreds of fake teachers in all the 21 Local Government Education Areas of the State.
A copy of the report exclusively obtained by this independent online journalist last week, stated that this unwholesome development have been discovered to be causing grievous damages to the future of school children in the state.
According to the report, there are rampant cases of fake certificate in most LGEAs especially NCE Certificates, purportedly obtained from NITT and college of educations.
It was discovered also that during the extensive investigations, that a good number of teachers in the state could not speak good English, even at very senior level. To arrest this ugly development, the report recommended that teachers should be promoted based on examination and interview.
In the same vein, the state government has been urged to urgently set up a high powered committee to carry out verification of school teachers in the state because of the menace of fake teachers that have found their ways into the system.
This report which was never implemented by the then governor Captain Idris Wada before the end of his tenure, also suggested that all qualified teachers posted to LGEAs head offices should be transferred back to the field immediately, to solve the challenges of gross under staffing being experienced in many school across the state. It was recommended that failure of such teachers to go back to the class room should result in compulsory retirement.
In the same vein, all those teachers without original NCE certificates or letters of attestation from such schools, should be laid off immediately. The report also recommend, the need for adequate supervision of schools and LGEAs by members of SUBEB.
The committee furthered discovered that several teachers in LGEAs pay rolls were found to be working else where i.e Civil Defense Corps in Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt.
It was also discovered that most educational secretaries including sectional heads in LGEAs were allegedly fraudulent, as they issue and backdated several new employment letters as conduit pipe to defraud the state running into millions of naira.
The state government was also advised to flush out all fake teachers that found their ways into the pay roll through the educational secretaries and their collaborators.
There were also rampant cases of dead teachers being replaced by the educational secretaries without consultation with SUBEB, while some head teachers and sectional heads were discovered to have inserted fresh names in their pay rolls through which they were defrauding the state government of millions of naira monthly.
Another shocking discovery by the committee were cases where letters of appointment of some teachers had been backdated in other to escape 2010 embargo on state government policy.
Meanwhile, one of the key components of the change agenda of Alh. Yahaya Bello led administration is the total war on corruption and other financial crimes which he had sworn to pursue with all seriousness during his tenure in office.

TO: ALL PRINCIPALS AND HMs.
I am directed to inform you that there is no strike in Rivers state. Accordingly, all UBE staff in Obio/Akpor are directed to go about their normal duties.
Any staff who absent from duty under the cover of strike,would be punished in accordance with Civil Service rules.YOU ARE WARNED.
School heads must encourage pupils/students to come to school.
OVUNDA SUNNY F.
(Ag.ES) OBALGA.

Alert zenith bank for March ube obio/Akpor.

Happy Easter to all comrades.

A friend said Eco bank paid this morning though he works in ministry of environment.

There was palpable excitement among Cross River State civil servants yesterday as Governor Ben Ayade kept his promise to pay January salary before the weekend.
All across the various ministries, departments and agencies, workers could be seen jubilating and discussing among themselves that the governor kept to his words to pay January salary before the weekend.
It would be recalled that the State Governor had directed on the 12th of January that salaries of workers in the state be paid on or before January 15th to cushion the effects of “January economic hardship”.
The Governor had given the directive when he paid an unscheduled visit to the state’s Land and Urban Development Ministry in Calabar, to ascertain the level of staff punctuality.
Governor Ayade who had given reasons for the early payment of salaries said the workers will be broke by now due to the yuletide expenditures. “We paid so early (15th) in December and so you should be broke by now and this is the time you need money to send the children back to school. I am also concerned about your welfare and well-being and that is why I am directing that the salaries for the month of January be paid between now and Friday.”
He stressed the need for workers to be disciplined and imbibe an industrial culture to achieve his administration’s plans to revolutionize the state industrially.
Expressing excitement that the governor has consistently kept his promise to pay salaries early, John Achu, a civil servant with the state ministry of agriculture said: “In fact, I could not believe it when I got the alert. I thought I was dreaming. Ayade is a God-sent redeemer to the people of Cross River state. “With what he is doing in the state Cross-Riverians are in for more juicy packages from our digital governor.”
Collaborating Achu’s position Mrs. Rita Okon of the Due Process and Price Intelligence Agency echoed: “God bless the hard working governor, God bless Prof. Ayade. Honestly I was wondering how I will pay my children school fees and take care of the home when one of my colleagues in the office started dancing after receiving an alert only to confirm Governor Ayade is a man of his words when she revealed that our salaries have been paid and showed us the alert only for mine to come in some minutes later. We had to organize a prayer session in our office for the governor. He must succeed and those fighting him for no reason will all fail in Jesus name. Ayade must complete his 8 years.” she added
Pastor Emma Ikwen of the state Internal Revenue Board on his part stated that this confirms the text I got from the governor’s Media Team (CSG) on Tuesday 12 January that his Excellency had directed that our salaries should be paid on or before January 15th. It is great this governor is keeping to his words he has clearly shown that workers’ welfare is of top priority to him and I want to assure him that we the workers in the state will not disappoint him and I also want to call on those fighting the governor unnecessarily should rather join him to make Cross River a better state rather than their continuous distraction. Ayade has clearly shown Cross River will be better under him after 8 years by the grace of God.
According to Christy Archibong of the Ministry of Works, “It was a very noisy session in our office today when salary alerts got to us. My colleagues started whistling and singing, praying for his Excellency. We have never seen this before we are very happy with Governor Ayade. It was only on Tuesday we got the message that our salaries will be paid before the week runs out and truly it happened. God bless Ayade.”
Workers in the state were paid their December salaries on the 15th. The development shows that Cross River state is the first state to have paid workers this year.

Merry Christmas to all teachers of distinction.

FG assures on payment of December salaries before Christmas
By Seun Opejobi on December 17, 2015
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The Director of Funds in the office of the Accountant General of the Federation, AGF, Mr Mohammed Dikwa has assured workers that the on-going upgrading of the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System, GIFMIS, will not affect the payment of December salary before Christmas.
GIFMIS is an information technology-based system for budget management and accounting that is being implemented by the federal government.
Dikwa made this disclosure in Abuja during an interview with newsmen on the sideline of a one-day workshop on the Treasury Single Account and e-payment/collection.
The Director noted that the system would be shut down over the weekend for the upgrade so as to ensure prompt payment of salaries.
He said, “I want to assure all Federal civil servants that, God willing, they will get their salaries before Christmas because we will try as much as possible to pay the salaries before that time.
On the issue of the maintenance, Dikwa said, “The essence of the shut down is for maintenance. Some people complained that they couldn’t have access over the last few weeks because of the queue management challenge.
“We want to upgrade the infrastructure that we have over the weekend so that by Monday next week all payments will go on smoothly.
“But with the new improvement, the system will be easily accessed, there will be seamless transactions, and people will get their money before Christmas particularly salaries and other financial commitments of government.
“If you look at the trend, people find it difficult to have access easily because the infrastructure was not strong enough to effectively handle the queue management.
“We hope to have the Federation Account Allocation Committee meeting much more earlier and that will give us the room to have more money into the consolidated revenue of the federal government that will be used for the purpose of paying salaries and other commitments of government as far as this financial year is concerned.’’

Nigerian governors will eventually reduce the federal minimum wage of N18,000 or downsize because of the current economic crunch, the chairman of the body of governors has said.
The chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum and Zamfara state governor, Abdulaziz Yari, said on Thursday that irrespective of public condemnations of the plan, it would not be economically feasible to retain the same workforce and pay same amount of money.
Governors: We can’t pay N18, 000 minimum wage
According to him, funds allocated from the Federation Account could no longer sustain the expenses of the state as the internally generated revenue was still below par in some states.
Governors had two weeks ago declared that they could no longer cope with the N18, 000 minimum wage. The pronouncement caused a stir as Nigerians kicked against it.
The governors of Rivers and Edo rejected the plan.
Emerging from a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House Abuja, on Thursday, Mr. Yari said the governors were considering the nation’s economic situation.
“Let me make it very clear to Nigerians, governor’s forum is not the enemy of labour in any way. Rather, we have been working together. But what we are saying, (because not only Gov. Wike but also my friend in the comradeship, Adams Oshiomhole, kicked against the decision)…
“What we said is that when the National Assembly enacted the law of paying N18, 000 minimum wage, then the oil was about $118 per barrel and today where we are oil is $41 per barrel.
“So, if it continues like that definitely we will find it difficult to continue. We have to sit down with the labour and see how we can review; either continue or downsizing, or see what we are going to do.
“We want to find a solution because we have to be realistic that we have so many things to touch. There is infrastructure deficit, there is need for security, there are other things like social lives of our people and nation as a state,” he said.
The governor said from the federation account, some states received N400 million, N500 million while others received N55 million.
“And there are other issues, not even the salary, their pension is over a billion. So, how can we continue borrowing and servicing the service aspect of our expenditure, or overhead. How can we do that?
“We are telling the public that we are planning to sit down with the president and his team and the state governors as a team and the experts to come out with the way forward and how we are going to handle the poor state of the economy in the country.
“But what we have on ground now will not be realistic if it continues the way it is without having other sources from the economy and still relying on oil that is being sold for $118 dollar per barrel and now down to $41 and think that we can continue behaving or misbehaving the way we are doing, if there is anything like that,” he added

Nigeria’s revenue improves as FG, states, LGs share N473.832bn Oct. allocation
By Joseph Inokotong / November 28, 2015 / No Comments
It seems the dwindling revenue of the federation has started picking up once more, as exemplified by the amount earned in October, 2015.
The Federation Account Allocation Committee, FAAC, rose from its monthly meeting in Abuja late last night to declare grand total revenue of N473.832 billion for October, distributable to the federal, States and local governments.
The amount shared among the three tiers of governments is higher by N146.836 billion, when compared to the N389.936 billion distributed in September.
The obviously elated minister of finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun while reacting to the marked increase recorded in government’s finances said “we are working assiduously as we can to improve the country’s revenue base.”
She explained that recovered looted funds are not shared in FAAC meeting, and when the amount so far returned is made available to her, she would inform Nigerians about it.
According to her, the Excess Crude Account, ECA, still remains same at $2.258 billion.
A breakdown of the amount distributed among the three tiers of governments shows that the gross revenue of N400.310 billion received for the month of October was higher than the N321.996 billion received in the previous month by N78.314 billion.
The finance minister explained that “intermittent shut down and shut-in of production for repairs and maintenance at different Terminals during the month continued to impact Crude Oil and Gas revenue negatively.
“Also, there was revenue loss of $1.3 million as a result of drop in average price of Crude Oil from$47.315 in August to $46.96 in September, 2015.”
However, Non-Oil revenue recorded significant improvement in the month under review, as about N104.212 billion collected was more than the previous month’s Non-Oil revenue collection.
The sum of N6.330 billion was refunded by the NNPC to FGN. Also, there is an exchange gain of N6.995 billion, which was also proposed for distribution.

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Abubakar Malami, has said for the inconclusive Kogi State governorship election, the All Progressives Congress will only need to substitute its candidate, Abubakar Audu, who died on Sunday.
Malami, who spoke in Abuja at a seminar organised by the Nigerian Law Reform Commission on the reform of the National Environmental Standards and Regulation Enforcement Agency (Establishment) Act, said the election has to be concluded.
Malami said the APC would have to substitute its candidate for the purpose of the supplementary election.
He however did not say that the party’s deputy governorship candidate, James Abiodun Faleke, would automatically step in as the candidate.
He said: “The issue is very straightforward.
“Fundamentally, Section 33 of the Electoral Act is very clear that in case of death, the right for substitution by political a political party is sustained by the provisions of section 33 of the Electoral Act.
“And if you have a community reading of that section with Section 221 of the Constitution, which clearly indicates that the right to vote is the right of a political party and and the party in this case, the APC has participated in the conduct of the election.
“It is therefore apparent that the combination community reading of the two provisions does not leave any room for conjecture.
“APC as a party is entitled to substitution by the clear provisions of section 33 of the Electoral Act.
“Also Section 221 of the Constitution is clear that the votes that were cast were cast in favour of the APC.
“Arising from that deductions, it does not require any legal interpretation.
“The interpretation is clear: APC will substitute, which right has been sustained by Section 33 of the Electoral Act.
“So be it.
“The supplementary election that has to be conducted along the line.”
Asked if that substitution should automatically benefit Faleke, Malami said: “It all depends on the appreciation of issues arising from the primaries conducted before now.
“There was a first and a second candidate.“That primaries that had taken place over time had not by anyway been nullified.“And it is recognized by law. “But then a further consideration would be the idea of conducting another primary but that is not envisaged in view of the sustainability of the first primaries.”

There is saying''that a good teacher teaches from the heart'' Also, a well educated teacher should know how and when to use grammatical tenses. A survey can authoritatively confirm that teachers in primary and secondary school are finding it difficult to express proper English to their pupils and students. As a matter of national urgency, I use this medium to call on ministry of education to immediately commence training and retraining of teachers to enhance and fully equipped them.