News

IPPIS: ASUU Strike Looms In Jan

Published

6 years ago

December 20, 2019

A nationwide strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is imminent in January with the failure of the Federal Government and the union to settle their disagreement on the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
The Tide’s source yesterday gathered that the two sides had not resolved their differences over the payroll system.
While ASUU said it was still waiting for the National Assembly’s invitation as part of efforts to resolve the disagreement, a top officer of the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning said the regime’s decision on the IPPIS remained the same.
Following a directive by the President Muhammadu Buhari, at the 2020 budget presentation at the National Assembly on October 8, the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation deployed the IPPIS officers to universities between October 25 and November 7.
The AGF office said that based on Buhari’s directive that all federal employees must enroll for the IPPIS, universities workers must make themselves available for the enrolment during the period.
But ASUU faulted the payroll system, saying it negated the principle of universities’ autonomy. It also directed its members to shun the registration for the IPPIS.
But the top officer, who said the position of the regime on the IPPIS had not changed, stated that those who failed to register for the payroll system would not receive their December salaries.
He said: “The government has been very clear that everyone must be on the IPPIS to be able to get salaries. So if you are not enrolled, how do you get paid?”
He, however, said the Presidency would take the final decision on the fate of those that had not been enrolled for the IPPIS.
The officer said about 90,000 workers in about 43 universities had registered for the IPPIS, adding that 8,000 out of the 90,000 universities’ workers were lecturers.
“The IPPIS officials have done the enrollment across the universities based on the window given for the exercise to be conducted and they are back to the office.
“So, we are reviewing the data and whatever action that is going to be taken will be from there. But what I can tell you is that we have over 90,000 university workers on the IPPIS.
“So, if we have over 90,000 that enrolled, it shows that it is good enough. And out of this figure, we have quite a number of academic staff. We have over 8,000 from academic staff that have enrolled.
“So, definitely, we had a very good outing because over 90,000 were enrolled during the period and people are still calling to be enrolled.
“If they want to enroll, they should come here (Abuja) and we will enroll them. If you give people opportunity to enroll and they wasted it, we can’t go to their houses to enroll them.
“The IPPIS is a presidential directive and for now, it is the Presidency that will determine what will be their (ASUU’s) fate”, he said.
When asked what it would do if the Federal Government failed to pay the December salaries of lecturers that failed to register, the President of ASUU, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, said the union still stood by the decision of its National Executive Committee meeting in Minna, Niger State.
After meeting in Minna on Wednesday last week, ASUU had threatened that its members would go on strike if the Federal Government stopped their salaries.
Ogunyemi had said, “As resolved at the ASUU-NEC meeting at FUT Minna, should the Accountant-General make bold his threat of stopping the salaries of our members, the union shall activate its standing resolution of ‘No Pay, No Work’.
“NEC did not only reiterate its unequivocal rejection of IPPIS as an ill-wind that will blow the Nigerian University system no good, it also resolved that no amount of blackmail, intimidation and outright misinformation of the Nigerian public will make ASUU lose focus on its historic role as the conscience of the university system.”
ASUU had earlier said it was waiting for an invitation from the National Assembly, especially the Senate, so that it could demonstrate the alternative model it developed to the IPPIS.
The ASUU said the alternative model, University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), was ready and its team of experts would display it to the government once the National Assembly invited the union.
Ogunyemi, who said this in an interview with one of The Tide’s source in Abuja, stated that the UTAS was ready but the union needed the support of the government which would in turn give a directive to the authorities of universities.
He said, “Well, we are expecting to hear from the National Assembly but we have not heard from them. The last time we met them, we told them about that proposal and we said that our team had started working on it. So, we went back to meet representatives of the National Assembly after that and we told them that we were 33 per cent ready as of that time. But we have gone beyond that.
“Now we are moving towards a stage where we will need the consent of the universities and that is why what we have been saying is that the government should agree with us that we would go further with that alternative.”
The President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan, had at the meeting with ASUU on October 28 appealed to the union not to go on strike over the IPPIS, but the union had told Lawan that it was developing an alternative model to the IPPIS.
The union, after the NEC meeting on Wednesday last week, had said the UTAS was designed by a team of crack software engineers, who are based in the Nigerian universities.
The union argued that unlike IPPIS, UTAS would address the uniqueness of the university system, particularly the flexibility of the payroll and personnel management.
The IPPIS platform is an integral part of the Federal Government’s public finance reform initiative aimed at ensuring transparency and accountability in the management of government payroll.
Meanwhile, the Senate has kept mum on the claims by ASUU that the Red Chamber had not invited its leadership for another meeting after their first engagement some weeks ago.

News

Odu Urges Collaboration Among Stakeholders To Improve Health Service Delivery In Rivers

Published

2 days ago

April 10, 2026

The Tide

Rivers State Deputy Governor, Prof. Ngozi Odu, has called for renewed commitment, transparency, and collaboration among stakeholders in the health sector in the State.

The deputy governor particularly urged synergy between the Rivers State Contributory Health Protection Programme (RIVCHPP) and the Primary Health Care Management Board towards improved healthcare delivery in the State.

?Prof. Odu made this call during the 2026 First Quarter Review Meeting of the Task Force on Primary Health Care at the Government House, Port Harcourt, on Wednesday.

?She stressed the importance of honesty and urged all parties to be truthful and open in addressing challenges within the system.

?According to her, transparency remains critical to identifying and resolving underlying issues affecting healthcare delivery, noting that “if we are not truthful, we will not cure the disease, but merely cover it up.”

The deputy governor recounted a personal experience at a Primary Health Center where a patient, despite being duly registered under the RIVCIPP scheme with completed biometric capture, was still asked to make payment for services.

According to her, intervention by relevant authorities later confirmed the patient’s eligibility, exposing a communication gap between the scheme and healthcare providers.

Odu warned that such incidents could discourage community members from enrolling in the scheme, thereby undermining its objectives.

“When this happens, we are disenfranchising our people. The message that goes back to the community is that even when you register, you are still made to pay,” she stressed.

?While commending the leadership and staff of the Primary Health Care Management Board, Ministry of Health, Development Partners as well as other supporting units, for their efforts, ty deputy governor stressed that performance should not lead to complacency.

She urged stakeholders to continuously strive for improvement, raise standards, and leave lasting positive impacts within the system.

News

You Can Now Print Your Exam Slips, JAMB Tells 2026 UTME Candidates

Published

2 days ago

April 10, 2026

The Tide

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced the opening of examination slip printing for candidates registered for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

JAMB made the announcement yesterday, urging candidates to visit its website to download their slips ahead of the examination.

“Examination Slip Printing is now available. The slip contains details of the venue, date and time of your examination and gives you access to the examination hall,” the board said.

Candidates are to visit jamb.gov.ng and click on “2026 Slip Printing” to print their slips.

The development comes after JAMB dismissed a viral press release falsely claiming the examination had been postponed.

The board described the notice as “malicious and fake” and urged candidates to disregard it.

The 2026 UTME is scheduled to hold from Thursday, April 16, to Saturday, April 25, 2026.

The examination follows a mock test conducted on Saturday, March 28, which recorded technical difficulties at some Computer-Based Test centres.

Of the 224,597 candidates who registered for the mock, 152,586 sat for the test across 989 CBT centres nationwide.

JAMB said over 20 centres were delisted for technical inadequacies.

The board also warned candidates against fraudsters on WhatsApp claiming to facilitate score inflation, describing such claims as “false and criminal”, and threatening cancellation of registration or withholding of results for any candidate found involved.

Over two million candidates, according to JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, registered for this year’s UTME.

News

RSU Unveils Five-Year Strategic Dev Plan …Calls For Collective Commitment To Institutional Excellence

Published

2 days ago

April 10, 2026

The Tide

In a decisive step towards redefining its future, the Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, has formally unveiled its Third Five-Year (2026-2030) Strategic Development Plan.

The development plan is a comprehensive roadmap designed to strengthen the university’s position as a leading institution in Nigeria and beyond.

The unveiling took place during a high-level engagement with the Governing Council, Principal Officers and the university congregation, at the Convocation Arena, recently.

Delivering his remarks at the unveiling ceremony, the Pro-Chancellor of the university and Chairman of Council, Hon. Okey Wali, SAN, charged all members of the university community to align their activities with the strategic direction of the institution, emphasizing that the success of the plan depends on collective commitment.

He noted that the plan is not merely a document, but a working framework that requires discipline, accountability and unity of purpose.

According to the Pro-Chancellor, only through coordinated efforts from all stakeholders can the university fully realize its vision.

“I hereby invite the Visitor to the University, donor agencies, friends and well-wishers, and all stakeholders to support and fund the implementation of this strategic plan. We are confident that this plan will take RSU to greater heights in the comity of higher institutions,” he said.

The Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Isaac Zeb-Obipi, described the Strategic Development Plan as a document that would enhance the university’s corporate strengths, mitigate current weaknesses, leverage its corporate opportunities and address perceived existential threats.

“This Five-Year Strategic Plan sets out RSU’s goals, strategic objectives, expected outcomes and impact, including intervention strategies,” he said.

On his part, the Chairman of the Strategic Development Planning Committee, Prof. Emeritus Joseph A. Ajienka, noted that the 2026-2030 Strategic Development Plan represents a bold reaffirmation of the university’s founding ideals of excellence, creativity, innovation and inclusivity, aimed at positioning the institution to respond effectively to contemporary challenges in higher education.

Prof. Ajienka, who is also a member of the Governing Council, disclosed that the plan was developed through an extensive and inclusive consultative process, which he said reflects contributions from Faculties, Departments, Satellite Campuses and Administrative Units.

At its core, the plan seeks to advance the university’s vision of becoming a “unique and uncommon” institution that is structurally and philosophically oriented towards solving practical societal problems and ranking among the top ten universities in Nigeria.

The strategic framework identifies six key challenges confronting the university, including funding constraints, infrastructure deficits, limited research collaboration, and service delivery inefficiencies.

A statement by the university’s Acting Director, Corporate Affairs, Victor G. Banigo, further stated that the university has articulated four broad strategic goals supported by eight targeted objectives.

A central priority of the plan, according to him, is the strengthening of governance and administrative systems, alongside deliberate efforts to expand the university’s funding base. Others include enhanced alumni engagement, strategic partnerships and innovative fundraising initiatives aimed at ensuring long-term financial sustainability.

“Equally significant is the commitment to upgrading physical infrastructure across all campuses. Plans are underway to modernize lecture halls and laboratories, expand student accommodation, improve campus security and deploy advanced ICT systems to support teaching, learning and research.

“Recognizing that human capital is the backbone of institutional success, the university has placed strong emphasis on staff development, recruitment and productivity enhancement. Through targeted training programmes, mentorship initiatives and performance management systems, the plan aims to foster a highly skilled and motivated workforce.

“In addition, the university is poised to deepen its focus on research, innovation and entrepreneurship. By reviewing academic curricula, strengthening industry partnerships and establishing innovation incubation centers, Rivers State University seeks to translate research outputs into practical solutions that address societal needs and drive economic growth,” he said.

The PRO disclosed that the implementation of the strategic plan is projected at ?110 billion, reflecting the scale of transformation envisioned.

“While the university is committed to funding a significant portion internally, additional resources will be mobilized through government support, donor agencies, alumni contributions, and public-private partnerships.

“This multi-channel funding strategy aligns with the university’s broader goal of building a resilient and self-sustaining financial model capable of supporting long-term development,” he explained.

To ensure effective implementation, he said, “the plan incorporates a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation framework, complete with performance and impact indicators. A mid-term review is scheduled within the first two years to assess progress and make necessary adjustments.

“Furthermore, the establishment of a dedicated Strategic Planning Office will provide oversight, coordination and accountability in executing the plan across all units of the university.”

According to the statement, “As the university embarks on this transformative journey, the message from leadership is clear: the Strategic Development Plan is a collective mandate.

“For staff, students, alumni and stakeholders, it represents an opportunity to contribute meaningfully to the growth and advancement of the institution. For the university, it is a pathway to consolidating its legacy while embracing innovation and global relevance.

“With a clear vision, defined priorities and a united community, Rivers State University stands poised to translate this strategic blueprint into measurable progress, advancing knowledge, empowering people and shaping the future of higher education in Nigeria.”