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FG Implementing IPPIS With $140bn Loan, ASUU Alleges
The leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) said, yesterday, that the Federal Government was implementing the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) with a loan of about $140billion.
The National President of the union, Prof. Biodun Ogumyemi, who discussed this at a meeting with the leadership of the House of Representatives, said the union was opposed to the IPPIS because it will limit universities and reduce them to mere local universities which cannot attract foreign scholars.
He said that since 2013 when the platform was first introduced to members of the union, they made their position clear to government on why the policy cannot work and agreeing with the government to set up a joint committee to come out with a workable platform.
According to him, since the joint committee was set up, the union did not hear from the government until July, 2019, when the government came up with threats because they had made up their mind in what to do.
He said the union has challenged the government to tell them any country in the world where the IPPIS is used in the university system, saying “it is just about us. They have said that our opposition to IPPIS meant we are encouraging corruption. But we are the ones that always told them that they are reneging on their responsibility.”
However, the Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU), yesterday, frowned at the attempt by the National Assembly to single out lecturers for sexual harassment legislation.
The Zonal Coordinator, Akure Zone of the union, Comrade Olu-Olu Olufayo at a press conference in Akure, also insisted that the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) is a scam.
Olufayo was flanked by other university chairpersons, which include, Comrade Adeola Egbedokun of OAU, Comrade Akinyemi Omonijo of FUOYE, Comrade ‘Yinka Awopetu of FUTA, and Comrade Kayode Arogundade of EKSU.
The union said that “ASUU condemns, in totality, all forms of sexual harassment, no matter its origin.
“However, the Union strongly opposes any form of deliberate effort or attempt by the National Assembly to single out lecturers for sexual harassment legislation, as if such does not happen in other sections of the society.
“Such an attempt violates the rule of jurisprudence which says that laws should not be made against specific or targeted individuals or a group”.
On the controversial IPPIS, the union said, “ASUU will not its members to be railroaded into enrolling in this scam called IPPIS because of its apparent deficiencies.
“IPPIS also runs counter of the Universities Miscellaneous Provision Act (as amended).
“It is nothing but a fraud, which allows the enrollment of ghost workers”.
Olutafo, however, noted “with dismay the level of insecurity in the country was becoming alarming and unbearable.
“ASUU is of the opinion that militancy, banditry, herdsmen/farmers clashes, and insurgency are becoming rife and overwhelming on the security apparatus of the nation.
“It, therefore, calls for an urgent overhauling and re-jigging of the security architecture of the country”.
On the state of infrastructure, “ASUU calls for an immediate review of the promises made by the government to address the dilapidated and deplorable infrastructures and the bad state of education in Nigeria and demands that such should be respected.
“As things stand now, students are made to learn under inhumane conditions. This is in spite of all the efforts of ASUU to bring to the fore, all the inherent physical problems being experienced by the students.
“The situation has been made worse by apparent government meddlesomeness in the day to day administration of the universities.
“The attempt to erode universities’ autonomy makes them incapable of performing optimally in teaching, research, and rendering of services.
“This is evident in the forceful introduction on our universities the obnoxious Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS)”.
The union, however, lamented that “the government has rejected the cost-free and effective alternative platform, University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), being developed by ASUU.
Olufayo noted that “our union concluded that Nigeria is presently caught in the midst of suffocating socio-economic challenges which must urgently be addressed.
“ASUU is, therefore, calling for the populace to take power back to the real owners of the resources, that is, the working people of Nigeria.
“Having comprehensively reviewed the outstanding issues in the 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement, the 2013 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), and the 2017 Memorandum of Action (MoA), as well as the pussy-footing attitude of government on the obnoxious and fraudulent IPPIS programme, which have not been addressed”, we think that this is the best option.
Olufayo added that, “The Akure Zone of ASUU aligns itself with the decision of ASUU NEC to prosecute the two weeks warning strike to force the government to live up to its responsibilities”.
Meanwhile, the leadership of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has urged the Federal Government to act immediately to resolve the dispute with the university lecturers to avoid another long disruption in the academic activities in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.
TUC’s concern came just as the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, has insisted that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) did not notify the Ministry of Labour before embarking on the two-week warning strike, last Tuesday.
Ngige, who spoke when the TUC leadership paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja, yesterday, cautioned the lecturers that they may risk losing salary for the two weeks of the warning strike for embarking on an illegal exercise.
The TUC President, Quadiri Olaleye, who led members of the union’s national executive committee to a meeting with Ngige, said they came to express concern on various issues affecting workers and Nigerians.
He said that the union is worried about the current state of the economy, particularly with the recent plunge in the international oil price.
He advised that the federal government should do everything necessary to resolve the dispute with ASUU so as not to allow it to degenerate and further create more crisis in the country.
ASUU and the Federal Government team yesterday commence deliberation on their dispute.
Vice President Kashim Shettima has arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for an official State visit at the invitation of the Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed.
Upon arrival yesterday, Shettima was received at the airport by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Dr. Gedion Timothewos, and other members of the Ethiopian and Nigerian diplomatic corps.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communication, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed this in a statement he signed yesterday, titled: “VP Shettima arrives in Ethiopia for official state visit.”
During the visit, Vice President Shettima will participate in the official launch of Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Programme, a flagship environmental initiative.
The programme designed to combat deforestation, enhance biodiversity, and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change targets the planting of 20 billion tree seedlings over a four-year period.
In line with strengthening bilateral ties in agriculture and industrial development, the Vice President will also embark on a strategic tour of key industrial zones and integrated agricultural facilities across selected regions of Ethiopia.
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RSG Tasks Farmers On N4bn Agric Loan ….As RAAMP Takes Sensitization Campaign To Four LGs In Rivers
The Rivers State Government has called on the people of the state especially farmers to access the ?4billion agricultural loans made available by the State and domiciled in the Bank of Industry.
This is as the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) of Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), a World Bank project, took its sensitization campaign to Opobo/Nkoro, Andoni, Port Harcourt City and Obio/Akpor local government areas.
The campaign was aimed at enlightening community dwellers and other stakeholders in the various local government areas on the RAAMP project implementation and programme activities.
The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Maurice Ogolo, said this at Opobo town, Ngo, Port Harcourt City and Rumuodumanya, headquarters of the four local government areas respectively, during the sensitization campaign.
Ogolo said apart from the ?4billion, the government has also made available fertilizers and other farm inputs to farmers in the various local government areas.
The Permanent Secretary who is the Chairman, State Steering Committee for the project, said RAAMP will construct roads that will connect farms to markets to enable farmers and fishermen sell their farms produce and fishes.
He also said rural roads would be constructed to farms and fishing settlements, and warned against any act that will lead to the cancellation of the projects in the four local government areas.
According to him, the World Bank and Federal Government which are the financiers of the programme will not condone such acts like kidnapping, marching ground and other acts inimical to the successful implementation of the projects in their respective areas.
At PHALGA, Ogolo asserted that the city will benefit in the areas of roads and bridge construction.
He noted that RAAMP was thriving in both the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; Lagos and other states in the country, stressing that the project should also be given the seriousness it deserves in Rivers State.
Speaking at Opobo town, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area, the project coordinator, RAAMP, Mr.Joshua Kpakol, said the programme would reduce poverty in the state.
According to him, both fishermen and farmers will maximally benefit from the programme.
At Ngo which is the headquarters of Andoni Local Government Area, Kpakol said roads will be constructed to all remote fishing settlements.
He said Rivers State is lucky to be among the states implementing the project, and stressed the need for the people to embrace it.
Meanwhile, Kpakol said at PHALGA that RAAMP is a project that will transform the lives of farmers, traders and other stakeholders in the area.
He urged the stakeholders to spread the information to their various communities.
However, some of the stakeholders at Opobo town complained about the destruction of their farms by bulls allegedly owed by traditional rulers in the area, as well as incessant stealing of their canoes at waterfronts.
At Ngo, Archbishop Elkanah Hanson, founder of El-Shaddai Church, commended the World Bank and the Federal Government for bringing the projects to Andoni.
He stressed the need for the construction of roads to fishing settlements in the area.
Also, a former Commissioner for Agriculture in the state and Okan Ama of Ekede, HRH King Gad Harry, noted that storage facilities have become necessary for a successful agricultural programme.
Harry also stressed the need for the programme to be made sustainable.
In their separate speeches, the administrators of Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Areas, pledged their readiness to support the programme.
At Port Harcourt City, the Administrator, Dr Arthur Kalagbor, represented by the Head of Local Government Administration, Port Harcourt City, Mr Clifford Paul, said the city would support the implementation of the programme in the area.
Also, the administrator of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Dr Clifford Ndu Walter, represented by Mr Michael Elenwo, pledged to support the programme in his local government area.
Among dignitaries at the Obio/Akpor stakeholders engagement is the chairman, Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council and paramount ruler of Apara Kingdom, HRM Eze Chike Wodo, amongst others.
John Bibor
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the commencement of personnel audit and skill gap analysis across all cadres of federal civil servants.
The president gave this directive in Abuja, yesterday, while speaking at the International Civil Service Conference, reaffirming his resolve to achieve efficiency and professional service delivery in the civil service.
“I have authorized the comprehensive personnel audit and skill gap analysis across the federal civil service to deepen capacity. I urge all responsible stakeholders to prioritize timely completion of this critical exercise, to begin implementing targeted reforms, to realize the full benefit of a more agile, competent and responsive civil service,” the president announced.
Tinubu further directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to prioritise data integrity and sovereignty in national interest.
He called for the capture, protection and strategic publication of public sector data in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Act of 2023.
“We must let our data speak for us. We must publish verified data assets within Nigeria and share them internationally recognized as fruitful. This will allow global benchmarking organisation to track our progress in real time and help us strengthen our position on the world stage. This will preserve privacy and uphold data sovereignty,” Tinubu added.
President Tinubu hailed the federal civil service as the “engine” driving his Renewed Hope Agenda, and the vehicle for delivering sustainable national development.
He submitted that the roles of civil servants remain indispensable in modern governance, declaring that in the face of a fast-evolving digital and economic landscape, the civil service must remain agile, future-ready, and results-driven.
“This maiden conference is a bold step toward redefining governance in an era of rapid transformation. An innovative Civil Service ensures we meet today’s needs and overcome tomorrow’s challenges.
“It captures our collective ambition to reimagine and reposition the civil service. In today’s rapid, evolving world of technology, innovation remains critical in ensuring that the civil service is dynamic, digital” the President said.
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack in her welcome address told the President that his presence and strong words of commendation at the conference has renewed the morale and mandate of public servants across the country.
Walson-Jack described Tinubu as the backbone of driving transformation in the Nigerian civil service, and noted that the takeaways from past study tours undertaken to understudy the civil service in Singapore, the UK and US under her leadership, is already yielding multiplier effects.
Walson-Jack assured Tinubu that her office, in collaboration with reform-minded stakeholders, will not relent in accelerating the implementation of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan, FCSSIP 25.
She affirmed that digitalisation, performance management, and continuous learning remain key pillars in strengthening accountability, transparency, and service delivery across MDAs.
Walson-Jack reaffirmed that the civil service is determined to exceed expectations by embedding a culture of innovation, ethical leadership, and citizen-centred governance in the heart of public administration.