News

RSG/ASUU Face-Off Former Dep VC Sues For Dialogue

Published

13 years ago

December 6, 2010

Former Deputy Vice Chancellor of Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Prof. Bedford Fubara, says dialogue remains the best option in resolving the lingering face-off between the state government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) of the institution which has culminated in the disruption of academic activities in the university for several months.

Fubara who bared his mind in an interview with The Tide in Port Harcourt appealed to Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and the striking university teachers to go back to the negotiation table, with a view to thrashing out all issues in dispute through dialogue.

He explained that the lingering face-off was an ill-wind that was adversely affecting the state and the students, appealing to all the parties to have a rethink.

The former Dean of the Faculty of Management Sciences of the university also had a word for the governor. He said it would not be a bad idea for him to accede to the demands of the striking university teachers which revolve around their emoluments.

He noted that lecturers in the state university were not paid as high as their counterparts in Niger Delta University, Wilberforce, Bayelsa State and Delta State University, Abraka. He pointed out that while lecturers of Niger Delta University were the highest paid in the country, lecturers of Delta State University were earning as much as their counterparts in federal universities.

Against this backdrop, the retired university teacher believed that if lecturers in RSUST were asking that they should be paid what their counterparts in other state universities were earning, they were not asking for too much. He argued that resorting to the court, as a way of resolving the lingering face-off, would only prolong the crisis.

“If the governor still insists and goes to court, it will be a long drawn war which is not good for the state,” he declared.

The Professor of Business Policy and Strategy while urging the governor to continue with the good works his administration has been doing for the state, stressed the need for human capital development to be given priority attention because, according to him, “human resources are more important than artifacts.”

The former deputy vice chancellor who decried a situation where clerks in oil companies earn more than university professors in the country argued that the state university would have experienced lack of qualified manpower if lecturers of the institution had all in the beginning drifted to the neigbhouring University of Port Harcourt for the sheer fact that there was disparity between their emoluments and those of their counterparts in federal universities.

Donatus Ebi

News

Why Wike Is Playing God In Rivers -Asari Dokubo

Published

2 days ago

May 15, 2024

The Tide

A former Niger Delta militant, Asari Dokubo, has claimed that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, is “playing god” in the current political crisis that has pitched him against the Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara.
Dokubo also chided President Bola Tinubu for, according to him, handing over “Rivers and Bayelsa” to the ex-governor.
“He is now playing god. It is dead on arrival, all those things that he is doing,” Dokubo said in a video that surfaced on X.com on Monday.
He added, “I advise my friend, President Bola Tinubu; what you are doing to all Ijaw, Ikwerre people in Rivers State (sic). You took Rivers state and gave it one man”
In April, Fubara revealed that the administration has raised the monthly Internally Generated Revenue of the state from N12 billion which he met upon assumption of office to N27 billion.
Dokubo described the development as commendable while alleging that the governor only had access to N6 billion when he assumed office.
“The governor had come out to say that the IGR for Rivers State is now N27bn up from N12bn. The governor is even being economical with the truth. When the governor came in, they were giving him a paltry sum of N6bn,” he said.
Meanwhile, in another twist to the ongoing crisis, Fubara on Monday said that he would set up a panel of inquiry to look into the affairs of governance in the state.
He disclosed this during the swearing-in and administration of the oath of office on Dagogo Iboroma, SAN, as the Attorney General of the state and Commissioner for Justice.
The governor criticized recent comments by the former Attorney-General of the State and Justice Commissioner, Prof. Zacchaeus Adangor, SAN, who resigned from his cabinet over a fortnight ago and urged the new Attorney-General to defend the state.
He stated, “It is not the one that while you were here… the only thing you do is to sabotage the government.
“Instead of you to close your mouth, you publicly claim that you’re a learned person to tell people that you’re the Chief Law Officer. Chief Law Officer, you were here and went to stand before a Magistrate Court.
“At that time you didn’t remember that you’re a Chief Law Officer going against the ethics of your job.”

News

Investors, Tourists To Get Visa Within 48 Hours, FG Assures

Published

2 days ago

May 15, 2024

The Tide

The Federal Executive Council chaired by President Bola Tinubu has approved the establishment of a tripartite committee to streamline visa processes and acquisition for investors interested in investing in Nigeria.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, revealed this, yesterday, after the FEC meeting held at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
“Our visa processes are becoming cumbersome. The ease of doing business is also tied to our visa processes.
“Going forward, those investors, tourists would find it easy to acquire a visa within the next 48 hours,” Idris said.
The meeting which began on Monday was adjourned till Tuesday to allow for other “far-reaching” decisions, the information minister had told journalists.

News

Panel To Probe Governance In Rivers Underway -Fubara …Swears In Iboroma As New Attorney-General

Published

2 days ago

May 15, 2024

The Tide

Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has declared his readiness to set up a panel of inquiry to look into the affairs of governance in the state.
Fubara disclosed this during the swearing-in and administration of the oath of office on Dagogo Iboroma, SAN, as the new Attorney General of the state and Commissioner for Justice.
The governor criticised recent comments by the former Attorney-General of the State and Justice Commissioner, Prof. Zacchaeus Adangor, SAN, who resigned from his cabinet over a fortnight ago and urged the new Attorney-General to defend the state.
Fubara stated, “It is not the one that while you were here… the only thing you do is to sabotage the government.
“Instead of you to close your mouth, you publicly claim that you’re a learned person to tell people that you’re the Chief Law Officer. Chief Law Officer, you were here and went to stand before a Magistrate Court.
“At that time you didn’t remember that you’re a Chief Law Officer going against the ethics of your job.”
Addressing the new AG, the governor said, “You have a big task. As it is today in the local parlance, they say the jungle has matured. We will be setting a panel of inquiry to investigate the affair of governance.”
The governor further said there was a deliberate attempt to sabotage his administration, saying, “If we disagree, no matter how bad it is, it should be resolved.
“But it has become very clear that this disagreement there is no headway to it, and for many reasons, there is very visible evidence that there is sabotage, a deliberate attempt to sabotage this administration.
“Maybe where they are they are telling them nothing will happen, it is happening here live, we have our own legislators that are performing their duties according to the Constitution. So that record is threatened.”