Category: Education

Professor Odunayo Clement Adebooye, Vice-Chancellor of Osun State University (UNIOSUN), has called the president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Emmanuel Osodeke, a “careless talker,” saying universities that are not on strike are “quacks.”

Professor Adebooye stated that the state university has 481 full-time academic staff, 387 of whom are full-time Ph.D. holders, and that “this is not a quack.”

On Arise TV’s ‘The Morning Show’ on Thursday, ASUU President called state universities Osun State University, Kwara State University, Lagos State University, and Kwara State University quacks.

According to him, “Kwara State University is not a member of ASUU. Osun State University was suspended from ASUU for misbehaviour. We are in court with LASU (Lagos State University) because they sacked all our executives more than five years ago. They were not part of this struggle.”

The UNIOSUN Vice-Chancellor responded to ASUU’s claim while answering questions from journalists at a press conference on Friday; announcing the approval and accreditation of the institution’s bachelor of medicine bachelor of surgery (MBBS) programme by the Nigerian Medical and Dental Council (NMDC).

It will be recalled that UNIOSUN started the MBBS programme with the approval of the National Universities Commission in 2012. The programme was discontinued shortly after due to some operational challenges which led to the transfer of the enrolled students to Ukraine by the State Government to complete their programmes.

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Professor Adebooye noted that the NMDC not only approved the MBBS programme but also increased the admission quota for the programme from 50d to 100 students.

“Between January and August 2022, our academic members of staff have demonstrated the “can do spirit” in research and they have excelled in this world of stiff but healthy competition for research grants. I am glad to inform you we have six grants amounting to about US$300,000 in the last 8 months,” he said this in his address during.

Meanwhile, while reacting to the ASUU president’s statement, the Vice-Chancellor said Osun state university takes very serious exceptions for having mentioned the institution as a quack university and demanded the withdrawal of the statement from Professor Osodeke.

According to him, the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike (MOUA), where ASUU President teaches, does not have UNIOSUN’s achievements.

“ASUU President should go and check my profile, I cannot preside on quack university. He has expressed his opinion and that is his, the University he teaches does not have our achievements.

“He was here this year and commended the quality of what he saw here, the infrastructure, only a few universities. Osun state university takes very serious exceptions for having mentioned the institution as a quack university.

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“He shouldn’t talk about what he doesn’t know if he wants to continue being a true professor. A true professor finds facts and bases of whatever they say, he should get educated, I challenge him to get educated.

“Referring UNIOSUN as a quack university is a careless statement and not expected from ASUU President who is a professor; who must not make a statement without facts.” the VC said.

At a conference in Abuja, the European Union ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Samuela Isopi, announced that over 200 Nigerians had been awarded the Erasmus Mundus Scholarship.

This scholarship allows Nigerians to study at ten European universities in the fields of technology, robotics, agriculture, public health, and disaster management. The European Union ambassador stated that more courses will be added to address the specific needs of female students in order to increase the number of women participating in the scholarship programme.

Since the program’s inception in Nigeria in 2014, 730 Nigerians have benefited from it, making Nigeria the second country with the highest percentage of its citizens using the scholarship. While the selection process is rigorous and competitive, scholarships are not impossible to obtain.
It was reported on the scholarship, pointing out that it is open to everyone with a first degree, and even students that haven’t graduated yet but are about to.

EU ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Samuela Isopi, said “The selection has been made on the pure basis of merit, and since Nigeria is the second country in the world now in terms of a number of awardees, this means really that the quality of the Nigerian students that have been candidates that have been selected is really very good.
Esme Stuart, the Human Rights, Gender and Youth programme manager of the European Commission added that, “The selection process of the Erasmus students goes through annual application rounds. So, every year we’ll do the same just as we are promoting the number of awardees that we have, in October, we will start promoting the opening of the new application round for students that will be traveling to their countries next year.”
Juan Reus, the head of the embassy of Spain in Abuja also talked about the fields of study that this year’s students have applied to.
“We will be studying in more than 10 universities in Spain in different fields, especially in robotics and technology, agriculture, public health, natural disasters management, among others which just shows the diversity of interest that Nigerian students have.” Juan Reus said.
In 2019, just before the pandemic, only 44 Nigerian students got the scholarship. Compared to 2022, when over 200 students got the scholarship, making it a 450% uptick in applications and acceptance. This also took Nigeria from the ninth country with the most accepted candidates to the second.

About the Erasmus Programme
The Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters are high-level and integrated study programmes, at the master level, that are designed and delivered by an international partnership of higher education institutions. (HEI).
The aim of this scholarship by the EU is to foster excellence and internationalisation of participating institutions and countries.
There are also scholarships for students to study at the master’s level. They are offered to the best-ranked applicants worldwide.
The scholarships also cover the cost of a student’s participation in the programme, their travel, and a living allowance.

The Registrar/Chief Executive of Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) Professor Segun Ajiboye on Friday stated that over 30, 000 registered teachers will participate in an online capaci­ty-building conference.

The conference which is in collaboration with UNESCO, ac­cording to Ajiboye holds between Monday 22nd and Tuesday 23rd August, 2022.

The TRCN boss who gave the theme of the conference as “Strengthening Teacher Capacity for more resilient, transformative and inclusive education system” argued that the Council will con­tinue to seek ways of improving the capacity of registered teach­ers towards qualitative delivery of their mandates.

According to him, “the 2022 annual conference of registered teachers is the 2nd edition of the conference and over 30,000 par­ticipants have registered online, while about 9000 followers are expected to follow on our social media handles such as Face­book streaming live. Similarly, over 10,000 others will view the program live on UNESCO social media handles. The conference parades arrays of speakers from me academia, development part­ners and active practitioners.”

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Professor Ajiboye disclosed that “a couple of others will be viewing the program in set up veiwing centers across three States namely Jigawa, Kano and Kaduna.

Ajiboye stated that the online conference is one of the already institutionalized mechanisms put in place to fulfil the mandates of TRCN.

The conference which will be declared opened by the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu is also being supported by PLANE and Save -the- Children- Interna­tional (SCI) with support from sister agencies such as NCCE and NTI.

Ajiboye who stated that the 1st edition of the conference was held January 26th and 27th, 2021 added that the Council will not rest on its oars towarding getting knowledge of registered teachers updated towards imparting sound knowledge capable of transform­ing the country.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) Usmanu Danfidiyo University Sokoto chapter has accused the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Mr Chris Ngige, of not telling Nigerians the truth about the state of ASUU and the Federal Government crisis.

In a press conference held today Sunday at the Nigeria Union of Journalists secretariat Zuru road Sokoto, the Union described the Minister of Labour, Chris Ngige, as a stumbling block in negotiations between ASUU and the Federal Government on how best to end ASUU’s long-running strike.

In his address to journalists, the Union’s chairman, Mr MN Almustapha, stated that Minister Ngige has claimed that the Sokoto branch of ASUU graduated medical students while on strike, adding that the ASUU branch of Usmanu Danfidiyo University has not graduated any student since the strike began in February.

The Union challenged the Labour Minister to produce any factual evidence to back up his claim, which they called a blatant lie. claiming that there was never a letter written by the Vice Chancellor of Usman Danfodiyo University Sokoto, any of his representatives, or any official of the Union stating that medical lecturers are not on strike at UDUS.

According to ASUU, the Minister of Labour has succeeded in convincing key stakeholders in the struggle that the issue at stake between ASUU and the Federal Government is unresolvable.

“We know better that the treacherous anti-intellectual posture of “conciliator” Minister Ngige has always been the bane of the current ASUU Federal Government crisis.” According to the ASUU Chairman.

“The entire ASUU Usman Danfodiyo University branch, including the College of Health Sciences, is on a total and comprehensive strike that will begin on February 14th, 2022.”

The National Industrial Court in Abuja has admitted 345 exhibits in a suit filed by 114 Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) members challenging their alleged unlawful dismissal by Kogi State University (KSU).

The massive exhibits were presented by Femi Falana, a human rights activist and constitutional lawyer, and accepted by Justice Rakiya Haastrup in order to determine the legality or otherwise of the alleged unjust layoff of the lecturers.

Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), filed the suit at the Industrial Court in Abuja on behalf of the lecturers, who included about six Professors, against Kogi State University and the Attorney General of Kogi State as the first and second defendants, respectively, requesting that the alleged dismissal of his clients be reversed.

Kogi State University (KSU) terminated the appointments of 114 lecturers on the grounds of institutional reorganisation in a letter dated August 14, 2017, with reference No. KSU/R/EST/EMP/SS/Vol 1.

However, in the suit, Falana, among others, requested that the Industrial Court declare the termination of his clients’ appointments as illegal, null and void on the grounds that it violated the existing provisions of Chapter 6 paragraph 6.4.6 of the Kogi State University conditions and schemes of service for senior staff dated November 2008.

He asked the court to set aside the alleged appointment termination and to pay all of the lecturers’ salary arrears and allowances.

The senior lawyer also requested a perpetual injunction to prevent the University and its agents from evicting the lecturers from their respective offices and residences.

Falana also sought a perpetual injunction order prohibiting the defendants from further terminating the lecturers’ employment or denying them the right to any privilege or refusing to pay their salaries and allowances, promoting or harassing, intimidating, threatening, or suspending his clients’ employment without due compliance with the laws governing their employment.

During his evidence-in-chief, the senior lawyer tendered the 345 exhibits through the Kogi State University ASUU branch Chairman, Dr Daniel Oluwagbemiga Aina.

Falana, whose brief was handled by Femi Adedeji, informed the court that the 345 exhibits were the pivot of the 114 lecturers’ case against the Kogi State University’s unlawful dismissal.

He directed Justice Haastrup to conduct a critical judicial examination of all exhibits and to order the reinstatement of the lecturers to work in the interests of justice and fair play.

Mr Wisdom Caleb, counsel to the University, and Abbas Kamarudeen, counsel to the Kogi State Attorney General, agreed to object to any exhibits at the final address stage.

While admitting the exhibits, Justice Haastrup set October 24, 25, and 26 for cross-examination of the witness on his evidence in chief.

The North Central Zonal leaders of ASUU, led by the Chairman, Dr. Chris Piwuna, were present.