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COEASU Accuses FG Of Insensitivity, Demands Release Of N15bn Revitalisation Fund

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Lecturers in colleges of education across the country under the aegis of Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) have accused the Federal Government of insensitivity, saying successive governments over the years had neglected issues affecting the union and schools despite many entreaties.
National Vice President and Southwest Zonal Coordinator (COEASU), Olusegun Lana, said the Federal Government has not been fair to colleges of education.
The union listed some of its grievances to include failure of the Federal Government to reconstitute its renegotiation team for COEASU-FGN 2010 Agreement; non-release of N15billion revitalisation fund pledged by government and insistence on Integrated Payroll and Personnel information system (IPPIS) against University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), which the union described as a more reliable alternative payment system.
The union urged stakeholders to prevail on the government to do the needful to save colleges of education from incessant strikes.
He said: “While the long-anticipated renegotiation of COEASU-FGN 2010 agreement holds enormous promise for mutual resolution of several challenges bedevilling the COE sub-sector, the FG has failed to accord the exercise deserved priority. Ridiculously, government has refused to constitute its own renegotiation team after acknowledging receipt of our union’s team list on her own request for over two months now.
“Government has refused to fulfil its pledge of N15billion revitalisation fund. Apart from being a far cry from N478billion proposed at the 2014 Presidential Needs Assessment across public COEs, the delay in its release has made nonsense of the value due to inflation.
“Poor funding of colleges of education and poor conditions across state-owned COEs, in spite of our agitations and government’s persistent promise of redress, both Federal and State COEs remain poorly funded.
“Reign of impunity, statutory breach and administrative aberration persists our members, especially in state COEs, continue to suffer untold hardships through non-payment of salary and salary arrears, refusal to implement statutory salary structure in full, extraneous promotion criteria, idiosyncratic policies, non/improper domestication of 65-year retirement age for workers in the COE system; multiple promotions without financial effects and repression of union activities, among others.
“Many colleges find it difficult to run smoothly due to non-release of running costs by government. State governments have abdicated their responsibility as proprietors to TETFund, as the only projects you see in the colleges are TETFund projects.”
Lana lamented that IPPIS was causing more havoc to tertiary institutions. He noted that up till the end of March 2022, about 1,219 lecturers in COEs were experiencing problems with the payment platform.
“COEASU has demanded the adoption of UTAS, an alternative innovation of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). UTAS has been found superior to IPPIS as it has the capacity to address our payroll security concerns and peculiarities of tertiary institutions. It is therefore ludicrous that FG has remained adamant on retaining IPPIS despite its injurious effects.
He said after extensive deliberations on the outcome of referendum conducted across chapters of the union, NEC resolved to issue government a 21-day ultimatum to do the needful within the period.
Mobilisation Coordinator of Education Rights Campaign, Michael Lenin, said:
“The blame for these strike actions that have grounded tertiary education must be placed at the doorstep of the government. It is quite unprecedented that all the major unions in the tertiary education sector will be on strike; however, it showed the level of damage the negligence of successive governments have done to the sector through chronic under-funding.
“This is the time for Nigerian students to rise and demand that all the demands of striking workers must be met and the sector must be repositioned from the current horrific state it is in.”

But the Federal Government has said that it is in consultation with COEASU and has held series of meetings with the union with a view to resolving the issues.

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Covenant University Retains Nigeria’s Best Varsity Ranking

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The Covenant University (CU) has, for the second time, been rated as the best university in Nigeria.
According to Times Higher Education‘s 2024 rating, Covenant Unirersity, as a growing, dynamic vision-driven university, founded on a Christian mission ethos and committed to pioneering excellence at the cutting edge of learning, is among the top 1,000 universities in the world.
The 2024 ranking includes 1,906 universities across 108 countries and regions. The Ranking Website indicates that the grading was compiled based on their new World University Ranking (WUR) 3.0 methodology which includes 18 carefully calibrated performance indicators that measure an institution’s performance across five areas: teaching, research environment, research quality, industry, and international outlook.
Analysis of the latest ranking on Thursday showed that the university based in Ota, Ogun State, is following on the ranking by the University of Ibadan (UI) as the second-best in the country, with the Federal University of Technology, Akure clinching the third position.
Currently ranked 801st university in the world, CU first gained prominence in 2018 after it emerged as the best university in Nigeria and the sixth-best university overall.
The ranking webpage explained that the site is trusted worldwide by students, teachers, governments, and industry experts, adding that the 2024 league table reveals how the global higher education landscape is shifting.
It stated thus; “This year’s ranking analysed more than 134 million citations across 16.5 million research publications and included survey responses from 68,402 scholars globally. Overall, we collected 411,789 data points from more than 2,673 institutions that submitted data”.
Meanwhile, also captured on the list of universities with the top rating in Nigeria are the University of Ilorin, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Afe Babalola University, and the University of Benin.
Others include the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Lagos State University, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Obafemi Awolowo University, and the University of Port Harcourt.

Available statistics showed that of the 15 top universities in the country, nine are located in the South West region, two in the South-South region, two in the South East region, one in the North Central zone, and one in the North West zone. Interestingly, the North-East zone was conspicuously missing from the list.

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2023 UTME Notification Slips: Police, JAMB Raise Alarm Over Fraudulent Sites

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The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) have raised an alarm over fake sites for the ongoing printing of the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) Notification Slip which contains vital information such as the date, venue, and time of candidates’ examinations.
In a joint briefing by the NPF and JAMB recently in Abuja, candidates are enjoined to patronise only the approved sites by the JAMB, so as not be defrauded.
The Force Spokesman, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, who signed a press release on behalf of the two Government agencies said: “The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) hereby bring to the attention of the public the ongoing printing of the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) Notification Slip which contains vital information such as the date, venue, and time of candidates’ examinations.
“Unfortunately, the emergence of several fake websites created by unscrupulous individuals with the intention of misleading candidates has been observed necessitating this joint press briefing.
“These fake sites are designed to deceive innocent candidates into providing personal details such as registration numbers, email addresses, and phone numbers. These details are then exploited for malicious purposes.
“Both JAMB and the Nigeria Police Force condemn these fraudulent activities and hereby reiterate the readiness to safeguard the interests of candidates and maintain the integrity of the examination process.
“We urge parents, guardians, and all stakeholders to ensure that candidates print their UTME Notification Slips only from the Board’s approved website: www.jamb.gov.ng. Candidates can print their slips from the comfort of their homes or visit any of the over 700 accredited Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres nationwide.
“It is important to note that we are familiar with the tactics employed by these fraudsters, especially during the annual assessment and admission exercises. We are actively sensitizing candidates and the public about these deceptive practices.
“Any candidate who visits these fake sites will definitely have unreliable information and thereby miss out in the forthcoming exams.’’
“Candidates are advised to print their UTME Notification Slips before Friday, 19th April, 2024, to access vital information about their examinations. Any website other than www.jamb.gov.ng offering UTME slip printing services is fake and designed to defraud candidates. Candidates should also beware of sites offering ‘live’ questions and answers, as they are false and deceptive, and accessing such materials is prohibited.

“The 2024 UTME is scheduled to commence on Friday, 19th April, and end on Monday, 29th April, 2024. We call on parents, guardians, and the general public to join hands in fostering a culture of integrity and compliance with established guidelines. Together, we can nurture a generation of upright and law-abiding leaders by discouraging fraudulent practices and desperation.

“Furthermore, JAMB is partnering with the Nigeria Police Force National Cyber Crime Centre (NPF-NCCC) to address online scam-related issues seamlessly. We assure candidates and the public of our firm dedication to ensuring a fair and transparent examination process.

“In addition, the Inspector General of Police has ordered the NPF-NCCC to go after scammers and fraudsters who engage in cyber related crimes and create phishing sites/portals, and cause them to face the full wrath of the law”.

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RSU Begins First Semester Exams, Today

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The authorities of the Rivers State University (RSU),Nkpolu  Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt says it will  commence the First semester examinations.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Acting Registrar of the university, Mrs. I. B. S. Harry and made available to Dean’s and Heads of Departments, adding that the the examinations were earlier shifted to begin today  from its initial date of last Monday to enable students who were yet to complete their registration and pay the necessary approved fees and give all students equal opportunity to participate in the examinations.
The statement reads “This is to inform all staff and students of the Rivers State University, Nkpolu-Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt, that the First Semester Examination for the 2023/2024 academic session earlier scheduled to commence on Monday, 8th April, 2024, has been shifted to Monday, 15th April, 2024.”
“The change in date of the Examination is to enable students who are yet to pay stipulated fees/ charges and complete their course registration for the First Semester, to do so.”
All students in this category are advised to utilise the period to make necessary fee payments as well as course registration.”

By: Akujobi Amadi

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