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ASUU Proffers Solution To Ongoing Strike

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The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has observed that resolving its ongoing strike action could be done by the adoption of the transparent payment platform, University Transparency and Accountability Solutions (UTAS).

Dr Socrates Ebo, Chairperson of ASUU, Federal University Otuoke, Bayelsa State chapter, in a statement, lamented that the deep-rooted penchant for corruption within government ethos is all out to frustrate its deployment, saying that UTAS has been proven to be a flawless payment platform.

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According to him, the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), has been decisively proven to be a porous, easily compromised payment platform.

The chairperson opined that the IPPIS has been ineffective in curtailing waste of resources, stressing that on the contrary it has been used to pad payrolls and used to effect all manner of fraudulent deductions from workers’ salaries.

He explained, “We definitely can’t continue this way, the adoption of a transparent payment platform is critical to resolving the current impasse in the nation’s university system. UTAS has been proven to be a flawless payment platform but the deep-rooted penchant for corruption in our government ethos is all out to frustrate its deployment.”

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READ ALSO: ASUU Drags Obaseki To Court Over Suspension Of Union Activities

He stated that no lecturer under IPPIS can say for certain what his salary is, pointing out that what they find queer is the insistence of some government officials on the use of IPPIS when it is proven to be compromised and corruption-prone.

The statement noted that UTAS has been designed to be corruption-proof, asking why the government would not be interested in a payment platform that is cheap, 100% corruption-proof, and 100% indigenous.

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It stated that if IPPIS was corruption-proof, the accountant-general of the federation would not have been able to loot N80 billion and N70 billion.

It said the statement claimed of savings by IPPIS are fraudulent, saying that IPPIS arbitrarily cuts workers’ legitimate salaries to cover its heavily corrupt and inefficient tracks to create the false impression of efficiency and savings.

The statement explained that the recently paid minimum wage arrears are a case study as many persons have not been paid till date, stressing that in his branch alone, 40 persons have not been paid while the Minister of Labour thinks that they were paid three years arrears.

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He added that what they received was a mere nine months without any clear template on how the payments were made, stressing that nobody knows what they are entitled to, nobody can ask questions to anybody and even the university bursars can’t explain how the payments were made and what was paid.

He suggested that the government should get serious with education in the country, saying that in the 60s and 70s, the universities ranked high among their peers with scholars all over the world coming to their universities to teach and study.

He lamented that today, the universities are so dead that even their politicians no longer believe in them as they now send their wards abroad for the same education, saying that they are the people killing education in the country as ASUU is the only bastion of defence for quality education in this country.

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READ ALSO: Strike: FG Meets ASUU Today, SSANU Friday

The chairperson noted that when education is destroyed, healthcare is also destroyed, and doctors are taught new procedures and skills at the universities, not at Aso Rock Clinic or National Assembly, pointing out that eventually, everyone gets sick and everyone eventually suffers consequences of the dearth of educational infrastructure.

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Education

HOMEF Decries Alarming Rate Of Malnutrition, Food Insecurity

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Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), has decried the alarming rate of malnutrition and food insecurity in nations of the world, lamenting that Nigeria tops the list.

According to HOMEF, rather than directly addressing the challenges of malnutrition and food insecurity, the government of Nigeria is focused on the deployment of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) as a solution to food insecurity.

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INFO DAILY reports that HOMEF’s research of 2023 reveals that Abuja tops the list of GM food with 16 products followed by Lagos with 12 products while 11 products were captured in Port Harcourt on the chart.

Benin City and Warri followed on the chart with 9 and 8 products respectively while Yenagoa, Uyo and Enugu had 4, 3 and 1 products in their respective markets during the research.

READ ALSO: HOMEF Organizes Reading Series, Wants Nigerians Pick Ideas From Books To Better The Environment

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Speaking at the organization’s Sustain- Ability Academy on Food Justice and Restoration which was held at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin, Dr. Nnimmo Bassey, the Executive Director, HOMEF, Tasked Nigerians to challenge “current narratives in favour of industrial agriculture.”

Speaking on the theme: Food Justice and Restoration, Bassey, said the
current narratives of hunger in Nigeria and Africa require urgent in-depth interrogation, just as he attributed hunger in Nigeria to the persistent violence in the northeastern states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe (BAY).

Bassey added: “According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation, up 33.1 million Nigerians are projected to be food insecure in 2025.

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“This projection is based on a number of factors namely: economic hardship, coupled with record high inflation (which reached 40.9 per cent for food in June 2024), climate change impacts, particularly foods, which directly impact the rising costs of both food and essential non-food commodities and services.

READ ALSO: Food Crisis: HOMEF, GMOs-Free Nigeria Train Abuja Farmers, CSOs, Others On Agroecology

He continued: “Persistent violence in the northeastern states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe (BAY) hinders food availability and access. Additionally, armed banditry and kidnapping in the Northwest and farmer-harder conflict in the North-Central states, including Zamfara, Kastina, Sokoto, Kaduna, Benue, Plateau and Niger, exacerbate the prevailing economic struggles,” he stressed.

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The Executive Director, therefore, charged the Nigerian government to “protect the rights of people to safe food and a healthy environment irrespective of their social or financial status.”

We all contribute by making healthy food choices, supporting agroecological initiatives, and advocating for policy reforms,” he added.

Earlier, the Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, UNIBEN, Prof. Chris Omokaro, said a Professor of Agricultural Economic it pleases him that the programme focuses on GMO, and urged Nigerians to interrogate if GMOs follow the natural principle of breeding.

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18-year-old UNILORIN Student Becomes Chartered a Accountant

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18 year-old student of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), Department of Accounting, Miss Faith Aduragbemi Olabisi, has qualified as a chartered accountant.

According to the bulletin of the university, the feat was described as a rare display of the superlative service delivery obtainable at the University of Ilorin.

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The statement said that Miss Olabisi is one of the several candidates who were successful in the November 2024 professional examinations of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).

Speaking on the development, Miss Olabisi said that it had always been her dream to become a chartered accountant as soon as possible.

READ ALSO: UNILORIN Expels Student For Demanding Ransom From Parents Of Missing Colleague

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Miss Olabisi appreciated the support of her lecturers and mother who provided her with the necessary motivation needed to attain the feat at her age.

Also speaking on this rare feat, the acting head of the Department of Accounting, Dr Segun Abogun, said that he was very impressed with what he called “Miss Olabisi’s Outstanding Achievement.”

He explained that Miss Olabisi is one of the several students of the department that passed the ICAN professional examinations last year.

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Dr Abogun encouraged Miss Olabisi and her colleagues to continue to serve as role models to others for the department to produce more chartered accountants among them, even before their graduation from the institution.

Reacting to the development, the vice chancellor, Professor Wahab Olasupo Egbewole, SAN, expressed delight with the laudable achievement of the Unilorite.

READ ALSO: UNILAG To Graduate 16,409 Students, Two With Perfect 5.0 CGPA

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In a statement issued by the institution’s director of Corporate Affairs, Mr Kunle Akogun, the VC, who said that he was not surprised with the performance of Miss Olabisi, said that the institution had always produced record-breaking professionals among its students, staff, and alumni.

The vice chancellor, who is also the secretary-general of the association of West African Universities (AWAU), explained that it is performances like that of Miss Olabisi and the enduring peace within the university that had made it the nation’s most sought-after.

Professor Egbewole congratulated Miss Olabisi for making herself, family, institution and womanhood proud as he encouraged her to continue to give her best to her studies and to remain a shining role-model not only in learning but also in character.

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The VC also encouraged other students of the institution to emulate Miss Olabisi for them to also succeed in their academic and professional endeavours

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2025 UTME/DE Registration Yet To Begin, Says JAMB

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The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that registration for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and Direct Entry (DE) has not yet begun.

In a statement posted on its official X account on Wednesday, JAMB assured candidates that the registration process details would be announced soon.

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The post reads: “Attention prospective 2025 UTME/DE candidates! Kindly note that registration has not commenced. However, details on the exercise would be announced soon.

READ ALSO: NASS Queries JAMB Over N1.85bn Spendings On Meals, Insecticide, Others

“You can get your NIN ahead and a phone number that has not been previously used to register on our platform to generate your profile code prior the time.”

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In another development, JAMB revealed that The Lekki Headmaster by Kabir Alabi Garba will be the recommended text for the 2025 UTME Use of English examination.

“Attention prospective 2025 UTME candidates! This is to inform you that The Lekki Headmaster by Kabir Alabi Garba has been approved as the reading text for the Use of English,” JAMB said.

“Details on the UTME/DE registration shall be released shortly. Kindly be on the lookout for updates.”

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