The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, on Tuesday said the government could only afford 23.5 percent salary increase for lecturers, while a 35% increment will be enjoyed by professors.

The minister also noted that  President Muhammadu Buhari,has  warned against signing agreements which the government will not be able to meet.

Adamu disclosed this while speaking during the meeting with vice-chancellors,pro chancellors and other stakeholders in the university system.At the meeting,a 14 man committee,to look into the no work,no pay stance of the government of the government,was also set up.

He said,”The Federal Government can only afford a 23.5% salary increase for all category of the workforce in Federal Universities, except for the professorial cadre which will enjoy a 35% upward review.

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Ayobami Adedeji Society 2022-09-06

 Hard times ahead for Nigeria,as its inflation rate reached a 20 per cent mark in August 2022, reflecting the rising cost of living crisis facing Nigerian families and firms.

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Ayobami Adedeji Society 2022-09-16

The United States has killed al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a "precision" strike in the heart of the Afghanistan capital Kabul, President Joe Biden said, the biggest blow to the militant group since its founder Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011.

Zawahiri, an Egyptian surgeon who had a $25 million bounty on his head, helped to coordinate the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States that killed nearly 3,000 people.

U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Zawahiri was killed when he came out on the balcony of his safe house in Kabul at 6:18 a.m. (0148 GMT) on Sunday morning and was hit by Hellfire missiles from a U.S. drone.

"Now justice has been delivered, and this terrorist leader is no more," Biden said in televised remarks from the White House on Monday. "No matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide, if you are a threat to our people, the United States will find you and take you out."

U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Zawahiri was killed when he came out on the balcony of his safe house in Kabul at 6:18 a.m. (0148 GMT) on Sunday morning and was hit by Hellfire missiles from a U.S. drone.

"Now justice has been delivered, and this terrorist leader is no more," Biden said in televised remarks from the White House on Monday. "No matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide, if you are a threat to our people, the United States will find you and take you out."

Biden said he authorised the precision strike in downtown Kabul after months of planning and that no civilians were killed.

Three spokespeople in the Taliban administration in Kabul declined comment on Zawahiri's death.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid had previously confirmed that a strike took place in Kabul on Sunday and strongly condemned it, calling it a violation of "international principles."

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Ayobami Adedeji Society 2022-08-02

With no end in sight to the lingering strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), seven months after, the fate of students seeking admission into the nation’s universities remains unknown as two new sets await the resumption of academic activities.

The first set of students, whose admission processes were concluded last year, are unable to resume, while another set of students sat for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) this year.

With the development, two sets of new students, 2021 and 2022 are waiting to resume.

A lecturer at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) who spoke with The Guardian said most universities have two sets of students ready to resume the academic session. Those admitted in 2021 were meant to resume after the second-semester examination early this year but were halted due to the strike. Now, another set of students sat for UTME this year, waiting for admission processes.

“You know universities have been trying hard to recover from the COVID-19 lockdown, during which schools were shut, and now we have this prolonged ASUU strike. I really don’t know how this would be handled,” the lecturer, who pleaded anonymity, said.

ASUU has been on strike since February 14, over the Federal Government’s inability to meet the 2009 agreement it reached with the union.

In the agreement, ASUU is asking for funds for revitalisation of public universities and payment of salary arrears.

Amid the breakdown in negotiation, the Federal Government invoked the no-work-no-pay rule against ASUU members and later dragged the university teachers to industrial court over their refusal to return to the classroom.

Speaking on the issue, ASUU branch Chairman at the University of Calabar, Edor Edor, said the body would call off the strike when the government is ready to implement the Nimi Briggs report.

The ASUU chief said the Buhari-led government should be held responsible for the lingering strike.

“The president, ministers of education, labour and employment are all government officials representing the Nigerian people. The president is holding the people’s mandate, so, we are holding him responsible,” Edor said.

ASUU is accusing the government of reneging on the agreements it reached with the union to suspend its last industrial action in 2020.

The union also argued that the latest strike followed the government’s attitude towards renegotiation of salaries and allowances, as well as the adoption of the University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) payroll software.

The lecturers’ besides demanding funds for revitalisation of public universities are asking for Earned Academic Allowances (EAA).

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Ayobami Adedeji Society 2022-09-15

The Ogun State Police Command has confirmed the arrest of a 23-year-old woman, Mary Olatayo, for allegedly selling her three-week-old baby boy for N600,000.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, in a statement on Thursday, said the suspect was arrested following a complaint from the father of the baby.

He said, “The man said Mary got pregnant in the process and he rented an apartment for her where she lived till she delivered a baby boy. He explained further that the lady suddenly disappeared with the baby from the apartment three weeks after delivery, only for her to be found in a hotel where she went to ‘hook-up’ with another man.

 “All efforts to know the baby’s whereabouts proved futile. On the strength of his complaint, the Divisional Police Officer, Mowe Division, SP Folake Afeniforo, detailed detectives to the scene where the suspect was arrested and brought to the station.

“On interrogation, Mary Olatayo, confessed to the police that she sold the baby to someone in Anambra State at the rate of N600,000. She confessed that it was her friend, Chioma Ogbonna, who led her to the buyer in Anambra State, and that they both shared the money equally.

“Her confession led to the arrest of Chioma Ogbonna, who also corroborated Mary’s claims. Further investigation revealed that Mary Olatayo, a native of Omu-Aran in Kwara State, is a call girl, who sees the baby as a disturbance to her business, hence she decided to do away with the baby.

“Fortunately for her, she has an accomplice in Chioma, a native of Imo State, who quickly contacted the buyer in state.”

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Ayobami Adedeji Society 2022-08-26

After a two-year break, Ojude Oba Festival has made a spectacular return in the  ancient town of Ijebu -Ode, Ogun State, where Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu today urged the Southwest to support All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Sanwo-Olu was the special guest of honour.

The palace of Awujale, the paramount traditional ruler of Ijebu kingdom, came alive with ceremonial parades of colourful Aso Ebi. Indigenes, attired in beaded materials, led processions in batches to pay homage to the king - Alayeluwa Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona,the grand paramount monarch of the Ijebu kingdom.

After the rite, they filed into the Royal Arcade in front of the palace to settle for the elaborate ceremony.

Governor Sanwo-Olu’s grand entry,in hand with the host Governor,Dapo Abiodun, into the arena literally moved the crowd of revelers into an outburst of excitement, lighting up the event as he stopped at each gallery to greet the Councils of Regberegbe (social clubs of Ijebu descendants).

The Lagos helmsman arrived in company of his Ogun State counterpart, Prince Dapo Abiodun, the host Governor.It was homecoming for Governor Sanwo-Olu,who is said to have ancestral tie to Ijebu-Imushin.

The centuries-old festival has become the heritage of the Ijebu and has its roots in Islamic celebration of Eid-el Adha in which early Muslim reverts in the town converged on the Awujale palace on the third day to feast and pay obeisance, to the monarch.

The festival did not hold for two years, following the outbreak and spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020.

Sanwo-Olu said the Ojude Oba Festival had stayed true to its Islamic roots and had become a unifying occasion for people, regardless of their faiths, tribes and dialects.

Under the reign of Oba Adetona, Lagos Governor said the festival had grown to become a global carnival recognised across the world by people of Yoruba origin.

Sanwo-Olu said: “The Ojude Oba Festival has, for ages, stayed true to its Islamic roots and has also expanded to become a unifying symbol and occasion for people of all faiths, tribes, and tongues; as well as a global celebration of Ijebu heritage and culture.

“We must never lose sight of this unifying element, at a time when the forces of division seem to be working so actively to undermine all that we cherish as a people. Celebrations like Ojude Oba remind us that evil will never triumph over good.”

Sanwo-Olu, who became the third sitting Lagos Governor to be invited to grace the Ojude Oba fiesta, said the festival had become an enduring platform fostering unity.

In the spirit of the unity for which the festival is reputed, Sanwo-Olu urged the entire Yoruba race to forge a common front in support of Tinubu, a Yoruba son and leading presidential candidate in the next year general election.

The Governor said the opportunity offered by the APC to Yoruba to produce the next president must not be allowed to slip away, noting that Tinubu had made several sacrifices to keep the Yoruba race relevant in the Nigerian project.

“As Asiwaju famously said, it is the turn of the Yoruba to produce the president. We need not waste this opportunity but to grab it and have our leader, who is a detribalised Nigerian, to lead the country. I urge all sons and daughters of Yoruba to come out in support of Tinubu to realise this ambition,” Sanwo-Olu said.

The Governor pointed out that his presence at the event underscored the partnership between Lagos and Ogun, which led to the establishment of Joint Development Commission in 2021 to collaborate on key areas of mutual benefit and development, while accelerating socio-economic growth for people.

He said: “The peoples of Lagos and Ogun share a long historical and cultural bond, shaped by the same forces and experiences, nourished by the same waterways, and living up to the same Omoluabi standards and ideals.

“The road network linking Ijebu-Ode, Epe and Lekki is yet another concrete manifestation of our collaboration. Ogun State has completed their own stretch, while we will complete our own end this year, opening up new commercial and logistics opportunities in that axis, and positively impacting the lives of our people.”

Gov. Abiodun praised Lagos for being a supportive neighbour, as he also used the occasion to admonish the youth against cultism and vices that could dent the image of Ogun State.

On why Sanwo-Olu was specially invited to grace the occasion, Oba Adetona, the 58th Awujale, said the Governor had become a shining star in the present class of public officers, distinguishing himself with service-centred leadership.

This, the monarch, said endeared Sanwo-Olu to the citizens beyond the boundaries of Lagos and established his name as a symbol of responsive governance in the country.

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Ayobami Adedeji Society 2022-07-12

Some branches of the Academic Staff Union of Universities in state-owned universities have vowed to remain on strike following the failure of the Federal Government to successfully negotiate with the national body of the union.

Chairpersons of ASUU in the affected state universities, who spoke in separate interviews with Punch, described as “ignorant” calls for the suspension of the strike in state-owned universities.

The national body had requested from the Federal Government the release of revitalisation funds to universities; earned allowances; deployment of the University Transparency Accountability System for the payment of salaries and allowances of lecturers; release of the white paper on the visitation panels to universities among others.

Although some state universities like the Kwara State University, Lagos State University, Osun State University, Kaduna State University among others pulled out of the strike, findings by our correspondents, however, revealed that majority of state-owned universities remain on strike.

Such universities include Ekiti State University; Gombe State University; Olabisi Onabanjo University and Tai-Solarin University of Education, Ogun State; Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Oyo state; Adekunle Ajasin University, Ondo State; Bauchi State University; Benue State University, Ibrahim Babaginda University, Niger; Yusuf Maitama Sule University, Kano; Imo State University; Nasarawa State University; Abia State University; Kano State University of Technology; Kebbi State University; and Sokoto State University among others.

Benue State University

The University’s  ASUU chairman, Dr Tarnongu Kwaghfan, insisted that the university would not resume class until the national secretariat of the union gives the directive.

He said, “Benue State University is on strike, it is not a sympathy strike because the university is a member of National Executive Council of ASUU and member of National Delegate Conference of ASUU. So we are part of the decision-making process of the union. Those saying we are on sympathy strike are saying that out of ignorance.”

Asked what would happen if the union and Federal Government reached an agreement but not implementable by the states, the ASUU chairman of BSU said whatever agreement the Federal Government and the union agreed on must be implemented by the states.

Adekunle Ajasin University

The University’s ASUU chairman, Prof Simon Ehiabhi, said, “ In ASUU, there is no federal or state ASUU. ASUU is just a single entity with chapters. What you have are branches of ASUU, and state universities that have subscribed to ASUU are branches of ASUU. Just as you have one Nigeria Union of Teachers. You don’t have federal or state NUT. Just as you have one Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board that conducts UTME, you don’t have federal or state JAMB. Just as you have one NECO, one WAEC, that’s how ASUU is.

“So if anybody is calling for state universities to pull out of the strike or not to join the strike, the person is speaking out of ignorance or out of not really understanding how the union operates. So no branch of the union can pull out of the strike, decided by all the branches at the congress.”

TASUED, Ogun State

The branch’s ASUU chairman, Dr Rufai Kazeem, said, “For now, my university, TASUED, we are on strike and will not opt out of the strike until all our demands are met,” he said.

Kano varsity

The ASUU branch of the Kano University of Science and Technology, Wudil, in a statement jointly signed by the Chairman, Muhammad Gaya and Secretary, Murtala Muhammad, and made available to newsmen on Wednesday.

“The union noted that the body language and antics of the government are indications that the government was out to completely destroy education in the country, especially tertiary education.”

‘Shift grounds’

Meanwhile, the Muslim Media Watch Group of Nigeria has urged the Federal Government and ASUU to shift grounds in order to pave the way for amicable resolution of the prolonged strike.

The Executive Director of MMWG, Alhaji Ibrahim Abdullahi, in a statement in Ilorin, Kwara State on Tuesday stressed the need for the parties involved in the  crisis to shift grounds in view of the damage the prolonged strike has done to the university education system.

Ekiti varsity’s resumption

The management of Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti on Wednesday directed all newly-admitted students for 2021/2022 academic session to resume on Monday for screening, registration and orientation programme.

The order, despite the ongoing ASUU strike, followed the advisory by stakeholders in the institution to the management to reopen the university without further delay for continuation of academic activities.

EKSU Registrar, Ife Oluwole, announced the resumption in a statement in Ado Ekiti titled, ‘Resumption of academic and administrative activities in the university: University stakeholders’ resolutions.’

Oluwole stated that the stakeholders expressed worries that the industrial action was having negative effects not only on the students, but also on the university in areas including “undue prolongation of the academic calendar and the stay of the students on campus”

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Ayobami Adedeji Society 2022-08-25

Victor Omololu Olunloyo, the governor of Oyo State in 1983, has passed away.IjebuNation gather that Olunloyo, who is the father of social media journalist Kemi Olunloyo, died Friday afternoon in Ibadan.

If you recall,days back, the family confirmed that the 87-year-old man is not dead but in a critical condition the intensive care unit,at University College Hospital (UCH) in Ibadanand that he needs prayer

“We appreciate the public for the interest shown in the well-being of our father, Chief Dr. Victor Omololu Sowemimo OLUNLOYO (aka VOSO).

“In the tradition of the OLUNLOYO family of Ibadanland, and based on the principles of integrity, inclusion, and openness upon which our revered father VOSO has always stood, we would like to inform the Nigerian public that we would greatly appreciate your prayers for our father who is presently in the ICU at UCH Ibadan.

“As a public figure, we believe that his condition should not be hidden from the Nigerian public who have a right to know about their leaders.

As you read this no official statement has been made by the Oyo state government,to announce the death of the great mathematician.

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Ayobami Adedeji Society 2022-07-09