2020: Year of lull in educational
aspirations
As the 2020
runs to an end, UJI ABDULLAHI ILIYASU highlights some of the important events
in educational development in Nigeria.
The Lockdown
In December
of 2019, there had been news of emergence and spread of the dreaded Corona
virus in China. The virus spread across continents and soon to Nigeria, leading
to the lockdown of institutions and educational facilities in March 2020.
President
Muhammadu Buhari, in March, announced a lockdown of major cities worst hit by
the pandemic in his address to the nation. Buhari ordered a ban on social and economic
activities and gatherings of people in the capital, Abuja, the commercial hub,
Lagos, Ogun state and the surrounding cities to stem the spread of the virus.
“I am
directing the cessation of all movements in Lagos and the Federal Capital
Territory, Abuja, for an initial period of 14 days with effect from 11 p.m. (2000GMT)
on Monday, 30th March 2020.
“This
restriction will also apply to Ogun state due to its close proximity to Lagos
and heavy traffic between the two states,” he said.
The pandemic
which seemed to be going away is now returning, especially in this cold season.
School feeding in a lockdown
The closure
of schools occasioned by the lockdown did not hinder the feeding of school
children by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and
Social Development. Although the home grown school feeding had been criticised
by opposition parties and many stakeholders as uncalled for, the programme went
ahead. Later, a huge sum of N2.67bn went to private pockets as alleged by
Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC).
ICPC said in
September, 2020, that it had uncovered
the sum of N2.67bn being payment made to federal colleges during the lockdown,
ending up in private accounts. Up till now, no one was prosecuted.
JAMB
lures CBT centre operators to police net
On
Jan 29, 2020, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) lured some
operators of Computer Based Test (CBT) centres involved in alleged UTME
registration scam to their headquarters and handed them to security agents for
prosecution.
This
happened at JAMB’s corporate headquarters at Bwari after cross examinations of
the operators by JAMB registrar, Professor Is-shaq Oloyede, who doubled as the
prosecutor and the judge.
Oloyode
had invited the unsuspecting operators to stakeholders’ dialogue in the office
only for them be interrogated on various degrees of fraud they had committed in
the registration process.
The
overwhelming evidences JAMB officials had tendered against their CBT partners
included sets of laptops that the JAMB supervisors had earlier confiscated from
the centres.
Earlier, JAMB had revoked licenses of 11 CBT
centres and blacklisted them. The
operators of those centres probably thinking that JAMB was going to resolve the
issues with them, came all the way from the six geopolitical zones and 36
states of the federation and FCT only to be arrested.
According
to the statistics presented, JAMB officials seized 25 computer sets from the
South-south; 8 from South-east; 5 from Southwest; 9 from the North-central and
one from the North-east.
The
registrar said that in the 2019 UTME, their attention was focused on fraudulent
activities of students but they found that the activities of the operators were
more important in 2020, therefore, beamed their search light on CBT centres and
found massive fraud in the registration process across the six geopolitical
zones and 36 states and FCT.
“Last
time we devoted our time to arrest students, but this year we will focus on CBT
centre operators
“We
can track fraudsters even to their fathers’ houses,” Oloyode said.
New registrar assumes duty at NECO
On May 15, 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari approved the
appointment of Professor Godswill Obioma as Registrar/Chief Executive of
National Examinations Council (NECO).
A letter dated May 15, 2020, with reference No:
FME/PS/396/C1/1/134 and signed by the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu,
stated that the appointment which was for an initial tenure of five years, took
effect from May 14, 2020.
According to
NECO’s Head, Information and Public Relations Division, Azeez Sani, in a
statement, Obioma, a professor of Education Measurement and Evaluation, took
over the affairs of the council from the former Acting Registrar, Malam
Abubakar Gana, at the council’s headquarters in Minna.
Unilag, Unijos, 10 others, get
TETFund’s Centres of Excellence
In
Novermber, Tertiary Education Trust
Fund (TETFund) has selected the University of Lagos (UniLag) University of
Jos (UniJos) and 10 other federal universities as the pioneer Centres of
Excellence to define the trajectory for the transformation of tertiary
institutions.
Executive
Secretary, TETFund, Professor Suleiman Elias Bogoro, at the inauguration
of the 12 maiden Centres of Excellence said the objective was to address a
specific national development challenge through preparation of professionals,
applied research and associated outreach activities to partners, especially
community services.
Bogoro also
disclosed that the board would fund the 12 centres with a grant of one billion
(N1billion) each for five years to enable them attain national aspirations.
The TETFund
boss said the two selected centres in each of the six geopolitical zones of the
country were expected to ensure the strengthening and sustainability of the
centres beyond 2025.
In the
Northcentral, University of Abuja and University of Jos have been
selected as Centres of Excellence in Public Governance and Leadership and Food
security respectively. “Northeast has Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University,
Bauchi, as TETFind’s Centre of Excellence in food security as the University of
Maiduguri is Centre of Excellence in Arid Zone Research and Development; while
Northwest has Usmanu Dan Fodio University, Sokoto, as Centre of Excellence in
Urology and Nephrology and even as Bayero University, Kano, is Centre of
Renewable Energy.
“Others are:
in Southeast are Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, and Nnamdi
Azikiwe University, Awka, in Root Crop Research, Development and Agriculture
Transitional Studies respectively,” Bogoro said.
In Southsouth,
University of Benin and University of Uyo got Centres of Excellence in
Aquaculture and Food Technology, and Computational Intelligence and
Multi-Disciplinary Studies respectively, while the Southwest has university of
Ibadan and University of Lagos in Biodiversity Conservation and Ecosystem
Management respectively.
Bogoro said
the first batch of the institutions was carefully selected while reassuring the
board’s unflinching support towards the realisation of the objectives of the
initiative.
“The
conceptual framework for Centres of Excellence is unlikely to be unfamiliar,
alien or even novel to most of you here. Nevertheless, a Strategic Framework
and Establishment Guidelines for TETFund Centres of Excellence, as approved by
the TETFund Board of Trustees will be made available to all of you.
“Each
selected institution is expected to implement its own approved TCOE, with the
objective to address a specific national development challenge through
preparation of professionals, applied research and associated outreach
activities to partner, especially community services.”
Education
standard nose dives
On December 13, at the Federal
College of Education (FCE) Yola, Education Minister, Malam Adamu Adamu, stunned
Nigerians with his remark on fallen education standard in Nigeria. He said
Nigerian graduates cannot express themselves in simple English.
The minister
decried the continuous fall in the standard of education in the country. Adamu,
who spoke in Yola, the Adamawa state capital, during official commissioning of
completed projects in the college, lamented a situation in which graduates can
neither read nor write in a simple English.
“Some
graduates of tertiary institutions across the country cannot read or write
applications,” the minister who was represented by the director of tertiary education
in the Federal Ministry of Education, Hajia Rakiya Gambo Iliyasu, said.
The minister
elaborated that students and even graduates had been found to be unable to
write one full sentence without multiple corrections. He thus urged all
stakeholders in the education sector to sit up to ensure that the decline in
the value of education was bridged within the shortest time possible, adding
that the situation was a cause for concern, so students and teachers need to
sit up and face their tasks squarely if the situation was to be reversed.
“Some
graduates of tertiary institutions across the country cannot read or write
applications,” Adamu said. But stakeholders said he must first blame himself
for the downward trend as the blame stops on his table as education minister
for six years.
NDA honours NYSC DG
The Nigerian
Defence Academy (NDA), Department of History and War Studies, on November 22, presented
a book titled: “War, Society and Leadership in Nigeria,” in honour of the
Director-General, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig-General Shuaibu
Ibrahim.
In his
opening remarks, the representative of NDA Commandant and Provost, Nigerian
Defence Academy, Professor Isa Garba, said the academy was proud of General
Ibrahim who is an Associate Professor, saying the book would contribute to
literature in understanding the history of wars in Nigeria.
He urged the
DG to remain focused on actualising his vision for the NYSC through relentless
pursuit of his policy thrust anchored on five cardinal points.
Brig-General
Ibrahim, while appreciating the academy for the honour done to him with the
presentation, said the military and the academic community could work together
to lift the sector to an enviable height, adding that he appreciated the History department of the NDA
because his achievements couldn’t be possible without their support.
“Continue to
touch your fellow human being. This is an example of reward for hardwork.
Therefore, this honour will spur me to do more.
“It is a
privilege and honour to receive this for my department. I want to use this
opportunity to commend the commandant and the provost of the academy. This is
encouraging.
“Also, it is
a lesson for others that when given opportunity to serve humanity, there is
always a reward at the end of the service,” he said.
Oyo govt takes over LAUTECH
In
November, the lingering crisis arising from the joint ownership of Ladoke
Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Ogbomoso, Oyo state, by Oyo and
Osun state governments came to an end.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja on November 20, the
Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor
Abubakar Adamu Rasheed, said the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by
the two governors of Oyo and Osun states, shows that the main university campus
at Ogbomoso had now become the property of Oyo state government, while the
teaching hospital at Osogbo, had been taken over by Osun state government.
NUC boss said after the amicable resolution and
agreement brokered by a tripartite committee, (which was chaired by NUC deputy executive
secretary, academics), was signed by the two governors, each had been trying to
see how best to utilise its own facilities. Towards this end, the teaching
hospital at Osogbo would be used as teaching hospital for Osun State
University, while Oyo state was working round the clock to build a new teaching
hospital for LAUTECH.
“The
National Universities Commission wishes to commend and express its
profound gratitude to the Executive Governors of Osun state, His Excellency
Adegboyega Oyetola and His Excellency Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State,
for their exemplary statesmanship, leadership and tremendous sacrifice by
putting the interest of LAUTECH and its over 30, 000 students above
political and other considerations….” Rasheed said.
The
NUC boss said over the years the joint ownership of LAUTECH had been
characterised by insurmountable governance challenges as it relates to the
appointment of vice chancellors, and other principal officers as well as
irregular payment of staff salaries.
LAUTECH
was established in 1990 by the Oyo state government with its main campus at
Ogbomoso and its teaching hospital subsequently was located in Osogbo, Osun
state
However,
when Osun state was carved out of old Oyo state in 1991, both states became
joint owners of the institution, the development led to unending management
crises that had affected both staff and students of the institution.
ASUU suspends nine-month old strike
On December
23, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) said it had
conditionally called off the strike it embarked on since March over the backlog
of unmet agreements between its members and the federal government.
The union
said it has suspended the nine-month-old strike even as it would monitor the
compliance level of the federal government on the concessions it had made.
Speaking at
a press briefing at the union’s secretariat in Abuja shortly before the
suspension, the union’s president, Professor Biodun Ogunyemi, said this
decision was reached after its national executive council had previously met, adding that the issue of IPPIS had also been
resolved.
On when
studies would resume fully in the nation’s public universities in the light of
the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping across the country, Ogunyemi said the teachers
were ready to resume as long as full health measures were put in place.
“As far as
we are concerned, we are ready to resume work. Let the government do what is
needed to ensure safety. We insist that the COVID-19 protocol should be
observed.”